Information for referrals into dermatology
On visiting your GP, a referral to dermatology will be made via the electronic referral system; your GP will access the necessary guidelines on referrals into dermatology via this system. If your appointment is felt to be a suspected skin cancer, then your referral will be fast-tracked and you will be offered an appointment within two weeks. Routine referrals take up to 10 weeks.
We offer appointments at both the Clifton and Fleetwood Hospital sites. Please note there is no dermatology outpatients service at Blackpool Victoria Hospital. All clinics run at either Fleetwood Hospital or Clifton Hospital.
If you are unable to attend your appointment, it is important that you contact the appointments department in advance so they can rearrange (see useful contact numbers on the right hand side of the main Dermatology page). Please quote your full name, date of birth and hospital/NHS number if you have this available.
If you do not inform us of the reason for non-attendance, you may be discharged back to your GP without any further appointments being arranged.
If you arrive more than 20 minutes late for your appointment, it is possible that you will not be able to be seen as this will delay other patients in the clinic. You may be asked to re-arrange your appointment.
Your outpatient appointment
Please report to the reception desk on arrival, where you will be booked in for your appointment and sent through to the waiting area. If you have changed address, telephone number or GP surgery, please let the receptionist know so that your details can be updated.
Please note that a number of clinics are likely to be running at the same time, so patients in the waiting area may be attending a variety of different clinics.
We aim to keep the clinic times running as smoothly as possible and will inform you if there is going to be a significant delay in your appointment time. One of the nursing staff will call you into the clinic room for your appointment with the doctor or nurse.
At the end of your visit, if you are started on treatment in the clinic, a prescription will be issued for you to collect at your local pharmacy. If you are required to come back to the clinic for a follow up appointment, you will be asked to report back to the reception desk, where a further appointment will be made. If an appointment date is not available at the time of your consultation, we will write with a further date in due course. The doctor will also send a letter to your GP detailing any further treatment or tests you may require. Your GP should receive this information within two weeks of your visit. It may take longer if you have had complex investigations.
If you require a surgical procedure, a date for this will be arranged in due course and you will be asked to come back to clinic to have the procedure carried out with either a member of our nursing or consultant team. If you need to cancel/rearrange your surgery appointment, please contact our waiting list team directly (see useful contact numbers on the right hand side of the main Dermatology page).
