Find your options for medical treatment

If you’re referred for consultant-led treatment, or to a mental health professional, you can: decide which provider you would like to receive care from as an outpatient choose the clinical team who will be in charge of your care within that provider organisation These choices apply to both physical and mental health, but only apply at the point of referral (from your GP, dentist or optometrist) to providers that have an NHS contract to provide the service you need. For a service to be available for you to choose, for physical health referrals, the service must be led by a consultant who has overall responsibility and in mental health the service must be led by a consultant or mental health professional. Normally the same provider you have chosen for your first outpatient appointment will also go on to provide the rest of your treatment. You can find more information on NHS services for physical and mental health on the NHS website. We’re asking all referrers to ensure they shortlist on average 5 choices from which the patient may choose, where this is practicable, clinically appropriate and preferred by the patient. Are these legal rights? Yes, but there are circumstances in which you may not choose. These are set out below.

You can ask to be referred to a different provider of NHS services if: you have to wait, or have already waited, more than 18 weeks before starting treatment or assessment for a physical or mental health condition, as long as your referral is not urgent and the service you require is led by a consultant the provider is satisfied that you will not receive a diagnosis or ruling out of cancer within 28 days of an urgent referral for suspected cancer or for breast symptoms (where cancer is not suspected), and an appointment with a suitable alternative provider may expedite a diagnosis or ruling out of cancer. There must also not have been a clinical decision that you require further interval testing and/or scanning or treatment before a diagnosis or ruling out of cancer can be made Waiting times can vary between services and you have the right to ask to be referred to another provider that may be able to start your treatment sooner. Where there is more than one alternative option, you should be given a choice of which service you would like to go to. It may not always be possible to change your provider - for example, if you require specialist care.

What has NICE said? Artificial hips and hip resurfacing are recommended as possible treatments for people with end-stage arthritis of the hip. Only an artificial hip or hip resurfacing with a replacement rate of less than 1 in 20 at 10 years should be used. What does this mean for me? If you have end-stage hip arthritis, and your doctor thinks that an artificial hip or hip resurfacing is the right treatment, you should be able to have the treatment on the NHS.

The Planned Treatment Scheme (S2 funding route) may entitle you to NHS funding for planned state healthcare treatment in an EU country or Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein if you’re eligible. The S2 funding route applies to public healthcare providers only – It does not cover private treatment. You must get approval first before travelling to receive planned treatment, as there are eligibility criteria that need to be met. Eligibility criteria To be eligible for S2 funding the following criteria must be met. Prior approval – applications must be authorised before treatment. State healthcare – the treatment must be available to you under the providing country’s state healthcare scheme (not as a private patient). Entitlement on NHS – the treatment must be routinely available to you under the NHS in your medical circumstances.