Instead of having regular follow up appointments, the trust will support you to manage your own care and to only contact us if you have any worries or concerns. This is called Patient Initiated Follow Up (PIFU).
A list of commonly asked questions about patient initiated follow up have been answered below. Please note, if you have any additional concerns or questions, please speak to your healthcare professional.
1. Why am I being offered Patient Initiated Follow Up (PIFU)?
We want to give you more choice and flexibility and reduce unnecessary visits to the hospital.
This will help improve patient experience, reduce costs of travel and parking and reduce waiting times for appointments.
The service has a long waiting list for follow-up appointments. During this waiting time, you may feel you require a sooner appointment, or you may feel you don’t need an appointment at all. As explained above the PIFU system gives you the flexibility to manage your own appointments.
2. How does PIFU work?
You will have open access for a specific time period agreed by your clinician from the date of your outpatient appointment.
If you are worried you have further problems related to your original appointment during this period, please contact us and a clinician will review your request and offer you a further appointment if appropriate.
If you have problems after this time, you may be referred to your GP practice.
3. How will I know if I need an appointment?
You will know if you require an appointment if you:
- are experiencing a worsening of your condition
- have concerns about your treatment or side effects
4. When is a Patient Initiated Follow Up (PIFU) appointment not appropriate?
PIFU is not appropriate for conditions or symptoms unrelated to the condition you were seen for originally: for these you will need to contact your GP or NHS 111 for advice.
If you require urgent medical attention, you should contact your GP, NHS 111 or attend Accident and Emergency if you are unwell.
5. How do I book a follow-up appointment?
You can either:
- use telephone number or e-mail address provided in your outpatient clinic letter which you will receive shortly after your appointment; or
- if you received a text message and/or e-mail indicating you are on a PIFU pathway, you can submit a digital request through the DrDoctor patient portal.
Get in touch
To request a follow-up appointment or for any further information on PIFU please complete one of the following steps:
- refer to the contact details within the letter received following your outpatient attendance or
- if you received a text message or e-mail indicating you are on a PIFU pathway, you can submit a request by clicking on the link provided.