Patient initiated follow up

In some of our clinics, we offer a new way to arrange outpatient appointments, called patient-initiated follow-ups (PIFU).

At the moment, regular follow-up appointments are arranged by us at set intervals, for example, every six months or every year.

Some patients find these regular visits useful and reassuring. For others, it can be frustrating or stressful coming to hospital if they don’t feel they need to.

If you have a PIFU plan, you can arrange follow-up appointments when you feel you need them, or if your symptoms get worse. This puts you in control of your follow-up appointments and gives you access to support and guidance when you need it most.

If your hospital care team thinks PIFU might be suitable, they will discuss this with you and agree your follow-up plan.

This means you may not receive regular follow-up appointments anymore and you will need to contact the hospital if you feel you need one.

Your hospital care team will tell you how long your plan will last for, and you will be on a dedicated patient-initiated follow-up plan list which will be checked regularly.

Some plans have a set time period, and if you do not need to see your hospital care team at all within this period you will be discharged back to your GP, who will refer you back to the hospital if you need to be seen again in the future.

For patients with certain long-term conditions where it may not be appropriate to be discharged from the hospital, your plan may be open-ended, or your hospital care team will discuss with you and make you aware of what will happen at the end of your PIFU plan.

If you are under the care of more than one department, it is important to remember that your patient-initiated follow-up plan does not apply to all of them.

Some departments may still send you regular follow-up appointments and it is important that you attend these so that they are able to monitor your condition.

If you are placed on a patient-initiated follow-up plan, your hospital care team will discuss which symptoms you should look out for and give you this information in writing format so you can refer back to it.

If you experience any of those symptoms, please contact the service as soon as possible to arrange an appointment. The service will provide you with contact details.

If you experience any other symptoms, you should contact your GP or phone NHS 111 for advice.

To book an appointment, please contact the number provided by your hospital care team and ask for a patient-initiated follow-up appointment. Each team will have their own way of managing the booking process.

To arrange an appointment, you must:

• Have been given a patient-initiated follow-up plan and discussed this with your hospital care team
• Contact the service within the timeframe your hospital care team have discussed with you
• Need an appointment for a specific health concern your PIFU plan relates to, rather than a new or unrelated concern.

• You have more control over your follow-up appointments and when you have them
• Appointments are made based on your individual needs
• For many people it will mean they do not need to come to hospital as often, meaning less time off work and travelling
• With fewer patients coming in when they do not need to, we can make appointments available more quickly for those that do need them
• We can also reduce our carbon footprint by lowering the number of patients travelling to the hospital unnecessarily

• Orthopaedics
• Physiotherapy
• Occupational Therapy
• Neurology
• Acute Paediatrics
• Ear Nose Throat (ENT)
• Maxillofacial (Max Fac)
• Endocrinology
• Rehabilitation
• Older Adult Medicine
• General Surgery – Colorectal
• General Surgery – Breast Self-Managed Pathway
• Chronic Pain
• General Cardiology
• Cardiology – Arrhythmia
• Cardiology – Heart Failure
• Respiratory – General
• Dietetics
• Diabetes
• Orthoptics
• Orthotics
• Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)
• Haematology – Lymphoma
• Children’s Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy
• Head and Neck
• CPAP
• Adult Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy
• Nurse-Led Urology
• Cardiothoracic

For further information please select the specialty whose care you are under:

• Orthopaedics – Orthopaedic Service (PDF, 135Kb) – Contact Details: please contact your consultant’s secretary
• Physiotherapy – Contact Details: 01902 695666
• Occupational Therapy – Contact Details: 01902 695666
• General Neurology – Neurology Service (PDF, 131Kb) – Contact Details:
  • For Shawbirch patients – 01952 800135
  • For Shrewsbury patients – 01743 261105
  • For Wolverhampton patients – 01902 488644
• Neurology Rehabilitation – Neurology Rehabilitation Service (PDF, 135Kb) – Contact Details: 01543 576024
• Neurology – Epilepsy – Epilepsy Service (PDF, 136Kb)
  • For New Cross/Cannock Hospitals – 01543 576283
  • For Telford and Shropshire Hospitals – 01952 800135
• Neurology – Multiple Sclerosis (MS) – MS Service (PDF, 131Kb) – Contact Details:
  • Shawbirch patients – 01952 800135
  • Shrewsbury patients – 01743 261105
  • Wolverhampton patients – 01902 488 644
• Neurology – Parkinson’s – Parkinson’s Service (PDF, 131Kb) – Contact Details:
  • For New Cross/Cannock Hospitals – 01543 576042
  • For Telford and Shropshire Hospitals – 01952 800135
• Acute Paediatrics – Acute Paediatrics Leaflet (PDF, 85Kb) – Contact Details 01902 481777
• Ear Nose Throat (ENT) – Contact Details 01902 481777
• Maxillofacial (Max Fac) – Contact Details 01902 481777
• Endocrinology – Contact Details 01902 485316
  • Prolactinoma:
    • Prolactinoma leaflet (PDF, 132Kb)
    • RWT Prolactinoma patient information PIFU leaflet (PDF, 675Kb)
  • Hypogonadism:
    • Hypogonadism leaflet (PDF, 136Kb)
    • RWT hypogonadism patient information PIFU leaflet (PDF, 674Kb)
• Rehabilitation – Rehabilitation Service (PDF, 124Kb) – Contact Details 01902 444000, Option 4
• Older Adult Medicine – Older Adult Medicine Service (PDF, 130Kb) – Contact Details 01902 695262
• General Surgery – Colorectal – General Surgery – Colorectal PIFU Leaflet (PDF, 132Kb) – Contact Details 01902 481891
• General Surgery – Breast Self-Managed Pathway – Breast Self-Managed Pathway Leaflet (PDF, 534Kb) – Contact Details 01902 695778
• Chronic Pain – Chronic Pain PIFU Leaflet (PDF, 130Kb) – Contact Details 01902 695122
• General Cardiology – General Cardiology PIFU Leaflet (PDF, 131Kb) – Contact Details: Please contact your Cardiologists Secretary directly, or alternatively contact 01902 484213
• Cardiology – Arrhythmia – Cardiology – Arrhythmia PIFU Leaflet (PDF, 131Kb) – Contact Details 01902 481748
• Cardiology – Heart Failure – Contact Details 01902 694227
• Respiratory – General – Respiratory PIFU Leaflet (PDF, 131Kb) – Contact Details 01902 694157
• Dietetics – Dietetics PIFU Leaflet (PDF, 131Kb) – Contact Details:
  • Coeliac Patients – 01902 695335
  • Other Dietetics conditions: – 01902 695778
• Diabetes – Diabetes PIFU Leaflet (PDF, 138Kb) – Contact details vary, please refer to the leaflet for specific details
• Orthoptics – Orthoptics (PDF, 131Kb) – Contact Details 01902 695830
• Orthotics – Contact Details:
  • New Cross Patients: 01902 694082
  • Cannock Patients – 01902 575626
• Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) – IBD PIFU Leaflet (PDF, 134Kb) – Contact 01902 694077
• Haematology – Lymphoma – Lymphoma PIFU Leaflet (PDF, 132Kb) – Contact Details: 01902 695276 or 07920451917
• Children’s Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy – Children’s Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy PIFU Leaflet (PDF, 129Kb) – Contact Details: 01902 446290
• Head and Neck – Head and Neck PIFU Leaflet (PDF, 131Kb) – Contact Details: 01902 694153
• CPAP – CPAP PIFU Leaflet (PDF, 136Kb) – Contact Details: 01902 695061 option 1
• Adult Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy – Adult Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy PIFU Leaflet (PDF, 140Kb)
  If you wish to access PIFU within the following Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy department, please call the team on:
  • Rheumatology: 01543 576411
  • Neurology OT: 01543 576411
  • Chronic Pain: 01543 576411
  • Trauma Hands: 01543 576411
  • Musculoskeletal: 01902 695666
  • Women’s Health: 01543 576411
  • Staff Referrals: 01902 695666
  • Respiratory: 01543 576411
  • Pulmonary Rehab: 01902 444254
  • Elderly Care: 01902 695666
  • Stroke: 01902 444254
  • Vocational Rehab: 01902 444254
  • Vestibular Rehab: 01902 695666
  • CNRT: 01902 444254
  • Falls: 01902 445921
• Nurse-Led Urology – Nurse-Led Urology PIFU Leaflet (PDF, 136Kb) – Contact Details: Catheter patients call 01902 694048 or email rwh-tr.canos@nhs.net; All other conditions call 01902 694467, or email rwh-tr.urologycns@nhs.net
• Cardiothoracic – Cardiothoracic PIFU Leaflet (PDF, 131Kb) – Please call your consultant’s secretary using the details at the top of your cardiac hospital letters, or 01902 484 213 if you’re unsure of the number