Appointments

Wearing face masks at Moorfields is no longer compulsory for staff or patients, with the exception of surgery. You may still wear a mask if you want to and can ask staff to wear one when seeing you. Staff may ask you to wear one for close-up examinations.

Please attend your appointment alone if possible and arrive no more than 15 mins early to help avoid crowding in our waiting areas. If you have Covid symptoms, please do not come to your appointment; contact us and we will rearrange it with you.

If you have any questions about attending your appointment, please email us, including your hospital or NHS number, at moorfields.outpatientbookingsbc@nhs.net - Please note, we are unable to answer queries for patients who attend our clinics at Croydon, Purley, Bedford, Northwick Park and Ealing through this email address. Please contact these sites directly using the contact details found online at www.moorfields.nhs.uk/appointments

Covid symptoms

Please do not attend your appointment if you have any symptoms of Covid. If you are experiencing any symptoms, please contact our booking team, including your hospital or NHS number, at moorfields.outpatientbookingsbc@nhs.net so that we can rearrange your appointment for a time when it is safe for you to travel.

Covid-19 testing

In line with revised national guidance, you will no longer need to test yourself for Covid-19 before coming in for surgery or emergency treatment if you have no symptoms from 15 May 2023.

If your surgery is at Bedford or is south of the river Thames (e.g. Croydon, St George's), please refer to the details in your letter or ring the number in your letter, as these sites have different arrangements for testing.

If you do have symptoms that could be Covid-19, please do not come to Moorfields; contact us to rearrange your appointment.

Text message-based services

Patients who have provided the booking centre with a mobile phone number will receive a text reminder of their appointment. Please help us by letting the booking centre (moorfields.outpatientbookingsbc@nhs.net or 020 7566 2357)  or a member of clinic staff know if you change your mobile phone number. 

We will send you information about your appointments via text messages from 07860 039 092 or email from no-reply@drdoctor.co.uk. We will never ask you to provide your bank or credit card details. Learn more about how we use and protect your health information.

Digital patient letters

If you receive our text reminders, we will be sending you your hospital letters by text.

This is quicker, is better for the environment and saves money.

If you do not open any of these letters, we will automatically post a letter to you three days after texting you.

If you prefer to receive paper letters, reply ‘PRINT’ to opt out.

Click here for full details of this service.

Patient-initiated follow-up (PIFU)

If your clinical team assess your condition as stable enough, they may offer you the chance to make your follow-ups with us when you feel you need them, rather than requiring you to attend a routine appointment. If you are interested in taking advantage of this, please speak to your clinician.

This service is currently being rolled out across a significant number of clinics following a successful trial. Please follow the link for further information.

Digital questionnaires

Some services may send you a digital questionnaire. This will again be via a text from 07860 039 092 or an email from no-reply@drdoctor.co.uk.

If we contact you, please complete it, answering all the questions you can. It gives us feedback on your progress and helps us to manage and improve the service. Please follow the link for further information.

Visitors

Please attend appointments alone, unless you need a carer, and arrive no more than 15 minutes ahead of your appointment. For patients coming in for surgical procedures, we ask that if you need someone with you, that they drop you off and pick you up from the ward but do not stay in the hospital unless absolutely necessary.

What happens after your appointment?

In some outpatient clinics, you may be seen by a different team member, but your tests will always be seen by a doctor. You may be asked to see a doctor while you are with us, based on your test results.

Follow up tests or consultations may be arranged by phone or email if they are not done on your appointment day.

Transport options to our hospitals

We understand that many patients are wary about travelling to appointments on public transport. If you have been offered an appointment, it is because our doctors have reviewed your eye health and can offer you treatment to help save your sight. Below are some options to consider, including making use of patient transport.

  • Car/lift – Please use our guide to each location to check local parking. If you are coming to City Road, remember the congestion charge applies on the Islington side of City Road, but not the Hackney side.
  • Taxis – If you are on most means-tested benefits, and a taxi is the cheapest form of transport available to you, you will be able to claim your fares back – see our main transport page for details.
  • Long distance train – If you are on most means-tested benefits, you will be able to claim your fares back – see our main transport page for details.
  • Public transport – There are steps you can take to make your journey better. Transport for London (TfL) provides up to date information on safer travelling, and you can always contact us to ask us to reschedule your appointment to avoid travelling in rush hour. You cannot use public transport if you have been self-isolating prior to an operation.

Arranging patient transport

For our City Road, Hoxton, Barking, Mile End, Northwick Park, Stratford and Potters Bar sites, please ring DHL on 0333 240 4909, Mon-Fri, 8am-5pm to check if you are eligible and to then arrange this transport. 

You will be given priority if you can demonstrate to the call centre that you need additional medical support during the journey, you find it difficult to walk or that you are the parent or guardian of a child that fits these criteria. We advise you to stress, in the ‘difficult to walk’ questions, any additional difficulties your sight loss causes you in remaining safe on public transport, any difficulties you have in finding new locations for our services and problems you may have in social distancing. If your appointment is urgent and you have been given little notice, this will also help prioritise your access patient transport.

Please give them as much notice as you can of your journey. If you need to be escorted because of your condition, please explain this to DHL. Patient transport is sometimes shared, but it will always in line with national infection control guidance.

For Croydon, Purley and Sanderstead, please ring 020 3967 8399, visit the website or email cuh.control@hatsgroup.com.

For St George's, Nelson and Queen Mary's Roehampton, please ring 020 8725 0808 or visit the website.

For Ealing, please ring 020 8453 2318, visit the website or email LNWH-tr.facilitiesteam@nhs.net.

For Bedford, please ring 034 5605 1208 or  080 0772 3063 or visit the website.

Please contact the number on your appointment letter if you are finding it difficult to book transport.

Emergency care

Moorfields patients and those living in central London who require emergency eye care (sight threatening problems or eye injuries) can use our A&E Attend Anywhere service.

These video consultations will allow us to assess your condition and provide advice on whether or not you need to come into our A&E department for further checks. More information can be found on the Emergency care page. If you require urgent medical advice out of these hours, you can contact our A&E department on 020 7253 3411.

Contacts for Moorfields patients

For existing appointments, your first point of contact should be the number on your appointment letter (if you have one). Alternatively, you can use one of the following options, or, if they are busy, email us, including your hospital or NHS number, on moorfields.outpatientbookingsbc@nhs.net. 

New patients

Appointments team, 020 7566 2700

Existing patients

Please contact the hospital first for appointments at the following sites:

  • Northwick Park 0207 702 5543; or email moorfields.nwpinfo@nhs.net 
  • Ealing 020 8967 5766
  • St Ann’s 020 7566 2841 or 020 8211 8323
  • Croydon, Purley, Parkway and Sanderstead 0208 401 3128; or email moorfields.croydon@nhs.net 
  • St George’s 020 7702 5542
  • Potters Bar 01707 646422 or 01707 651602
  • Stratford 020 8223 8820
  • Barking 020 7566 2744

For all other sites (including City Road), please contact the team for your service, if listed below:

The appointments team, 020 7566 2700, can help for all other services and sites.

 

Last updated: 20th July 2023