Alternative choice for patients
In England, NHS patients have the right to request transfer to a different hospital to receive their care or treatment if they have been waiting longer than 18 weeks.
West Herts Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is part of the alternative choice national roll out which enables patients on waiting lists to consider whether they could be seen sooner at a different hospital.
Who is eligible for alternative choice?
From 31 October 2023, patients who have been waiting over 40 weeks for treatment at West Herts Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and do not have an appointment date within the next eight weeks, could be eligible to ask to move to a different hospital to be treated sooner.
Dedicated teams at West Herts are working hard to identify patients who are eligible to receive care by another provider, via the national Patient Initiated Digital Mutual Aid System (PIDMAS). PIDMAS is the digital solution which patients and hospitals use to manage requests.
How will I know if I’m eligible?
West Herts will contact all eligible patients directly and will provide a weblink and telephone number for patients to submit a request to explore their options.
Points to consider
There may be circumstances in which it is not clinically appropriate to move to a different hospital, or alternative capacity is not available.
This particularly applies to patients with a complex medical condition or who need very specialist care that needs to be provided in a particular hospital.
As with any patient choice, you will need to consider various factors such as location (including travel times to all appointments) and quality of care.
If your care is moved to another hospital, this will include all outpatient appointments, pre-operative assessments or checks, your operation, and any follow-up appointments until you are fully discharged.
