If you have been waiting more than 40 weeks for your first outpatient appointment or a scheduled date for surgery with us, you could now be eligible for Alternative Patient Choice. Patient Initiated Requests to Move Provider or PIDMAS, went live on 31 October 2023.
Received a text message or letter?
Please do not call us direct – please visit the national website at www.pidmas.nhs.uk or call the helpline on 0345 450 6166
Under PIDMAS patients who have been waiting the longest will receive either a text message or letter from us. This message will ask if you would like to consider moving your care to a different hospital, initially within the Humber and North Yorkshire area, if it means you are able to receive an appointment more quickly.
You do not need to contact us to make enquiries; if you become eligible for the scheme, we will be in touch with more information and details of how to express an interest in moving hospitals.
There is, of course, no obligation to move your care. If you don’t take up the offer, you will simply stay in your current place on our waiting list and we will offer you an appointment date just as soon as possible.
If you do want to know more or think this could be right for you, you’ll be asked to register your details and say how far you would be willing to travel on the NHS website. Someone will then be in touch to let you know what happens next and which other hospitals in our region, if any, could see you more quickly. Full details on how to register will be provided through your letter or text message.
Alternative Patient Choice will not be suitable for everyone, and it is important to be aware that, if you choose to be seen by a different hospital for a particular problem, all your care and future appointments related to that problem will also take place at the other hospital; care cannot be transferred back to us once you’ve received your appointment or treatment.
Frequently Asked Questions