PATIENT INFORMATION
Waiting for an appointment or test after a referral
The service you were referred to and the NHS App hold the answer to most questions about a referral. Here is what to check, and who to contact.
Check the NHS App first
If we referred you through the NHS referral system, the NHS App can show your referral and your first appointment. You get a message in the app when the hospital receives your referral, and another when it accepts it.
In the app, go to Appointments, then Hospital and specialist appointments. An appointment can take a few days to appear. You need to be 16 or over to see it.
If the hospital has told you about an appointment that is not in the app, it still stands. A change you ask for in the app only happens once the hospital accepts it.
Some hospitals do not share referral and appointment details in the app. You can change only your first appointment in the app. Later appointments are changed with the hospital. Services you referred yourself to, such as physiotherapy, do not show. Referrals to hearing services and other high-street providers do not show either.
If you do not use the app, you can manage your referral online. You need the booking reference and the password or access code from your referral letter.
NHS.UKManage your referral onlinerefer.nhs.uk/
What should happen, and when
These are the national standards for planned NHS care.
- Within 4 weeks of the referral, the service should tell you what happens next.
- While you wait, the service should update you at least every 12 weeks.
- You should get at least 3 weeks' notice of an appointment, unless it is arranged at short notice.
- Routine treatment under a consultant should start within 18 weeks of referral.
- A scan or test should happen in less than 6 weeks from referral.
- If the hospital cancels an appointment, it should give you a new date within 4 weeks.
- For an urgent suspected cancer referral, the hospital should confirm it within a few days. You should be seen soon after, often within 2 weeks. Cancer should be confirmed or ruled out within 4 weeks of the referral.
Some services take longer than this. My Planned Care shows the average wait at your local hospitals.
NHS.UKCheck average waiting times near youwww.myplannedcare.nhs.uk/nwest/
Your situation
You have heard nothing and it is less than 4 weeks
The service has up to 4 weeks to confirm what happens next. Check the app. If your symptoms change, contact the surgery and do not wait.
You have heard nothing after 4 weeks
Ring the service you were referred to. Ask whether they have your referral and when they will contact you.
Find the number for the service you were referred to
If the service has no record of your referral, contact the surgery. We will check it was sent and send it again if needed.
You have a date but it is a long way off
That is the service's waiting list. The surgery cannot move you up it.
If you have waited more than 18 weeks for treatment under a consultant, you can ask for a different provider. The same applies if you are told you will wait that long. Ask the hospital, or NHS Greater Manchester, which should take reasonable steps to offer you one. This does not apply if you chose to wait longer, or if waiting is better for you medically.
Your scan or test is more than 6 weeks from referral
Ring the scanning department. The hospital holds the booking list, so it can tell you about your wait.
You cannot attend, or want to change the date
Use the NHS App, or ring the service's appointments line. The surgery does not change hospital or clinic appointments.
Ask to move the date. Only cancel if you no longer need the appointment, because the service may then take you off its waiting list.
You want to be seen at a different hospital
For a first outpatient appointment with a consultant-led service, you usually have the right to choose which hospital. Ask us when the referral is made. If your wait is likely to be more than 18 weeks, ask the hospital or NHS Greater Manchester for an alternative.
You were referred to a hearing service or another high-street provider
Some services, such as NHS hearing tests and hearing aids, are run by providers you choose, like Specsavers. We send them a form and they book you in. These referrals do not show in the NHS App.
If you have not heard within 4 weeks, ring the provider you chose. If they have no record of you, contact the surgery and we will send the form again.
Hearing provider phone numbers
Something has gone wrong at the hospital
Hospitals have a Patient Advice and Liaison Service, called PALS. PALS does not book or move appointments. It can find out what has happened and raise a concern for you.
Who to contact: hospitals, clinics and local services
When to contact the surgery
Urgent advice: Do not wait for the surgery if:
- you need urgent medical help: use NHS 111 online or by phone
- it is a life-threatening emergency: call 999
Non-urgent advice: Contact the surgery if:
- your symptoms have changed, got worse, or still worry you while you wait
- you were referred urgently for suspected cancer and have heard nothing within 2 weeks
- the service has no record of your referral
- you have heard nothing 4 weeks after a referral and the service cannot help
Tell us the referral is still open. If your symptoms have changed, we will see you and can write to the hospital.
If you cannot use the NHS App or ring the hospital yourself, tell us. We will check the referral for you and ring you back.
What the surgery can do
- check that a referral was sent and received
- send a referral again if the service has lost it
- follow up an urgent suspected cancer referral ourselves
- see you if your symptoms change, and tell the hospital if the urgency has changed
What the surgery does not do
- ring the hospital or clinic to get you a date
- see where you are on the service's waiting list
- move you up a waiting list. If your symptoms change we can write to the hospital, which decides
- change or cancel a hospital or clinic appointment
Reviewed 23 October 2026 ยท next review 23 April 2027