Patient Choice

When you are referring patients, you may be asked which treatment centres are available to them.

It is usually in patients’ best interest to be seen locally, however they do have the right to be seen outside of the area, and can choose to go to any hospital or clinic in England that offers NHS services for  their first appointment, provided that that hospital or clinic offers the right treatment and care for  their condition.

For more information about patient choice, visit https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-nhs-choice-framework/the-nhs-choice-framework-what-choices-are-available-to-me-in-the-nhs.

Patients or professionals are able to search for an NHS provider on this website https://www.nhs.uk/service-search/other-services. Enter the town or postcode, and the required treatment, eg ‘cataract surgery’ (then choose ‘cataract surgery treatment’ or ‘ophthalmology’ from the next list), and it will list nearby NHS providers with their waiting times.