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Outpatients

outpatients and main entrance

Please do not attend your appointment if you have COVID-19 symptoms or if your family is self-isolating. Please call our booking team on 0114 305 3691 to discuss rearranging your appointment

Our Outpatients Department holds a wide range of clinics to treat children and young people with a variety of different conditions.

Being an outpatient means you will have to come to the hospital to see one of our doctors. You may have to come and visit us a few times but you won’t have to stay overnight.

Outpatient clinics run between 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday.

Our appointment phone line is open until 8pm, Monday to Friday.

If you have an appointment booked, we will give you a call with an automatic message to remind you on 0114 305 3000. You can save this number on your phone as ‘SCH Outpatients Automatic’. If you call this number back, you will reach our new automatic reminder service which will tell you about your next appointment.

However, if you need to change your appointment and speak to a person instead, please use 0114 305 3691. Save this number on your phone as ‘SCH Outpatients’.

Telephone/video appointments

We are now able to offer certain appointments via video/telephone.

Please note that your child must be present during the telephone/video appointment. If for any reason this is not possible the appointment should be re-arranged. If our clinician contacts you and your child is not present they may end the call and you will have to reschedule the appointment when your child is present. This may be recorded as a ‘was not brought’ or patient cancellation and, in line with our access policy, you may be discharged back to your GP.

Find out more about video appointments and see some frequently asked questions on our dedicated video appointment pages.

Frequently asked questions about coming to Outpatients during COVID-19

What is it like visiting at the moment?

Read a mum’s account of her visit to hospital with her daughter Matilda.

How will you be keeping my child safe from COVID-19?

Nothing is more important to us than the safety of your child and we have made extensive changes to the way we work to keep everyone who comes to us as safe as possible.

This includes additional cleaning, social distancing and the use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). We are also limiting the number of visitors, and any staff who are unwell remain home until they have been confirmed not to have COVID-19.

A very small number of patients with COVID-19 infection have been treated at Sheffield Children’s. They are cared for in a separate ward area within the hospital and any procedures are carried out in a dedicated theatre.

Can I bring my other children?

No, siblings should not be brought along to appointments. To minimise the risk of infection, and to support social distancing, unfortunately we need to limit the number of people on the hospital site.

We understand there may be occasions for some people where they truly have no alternative, but most people are expected to make other childcare arrangements.

Should I wear a mask and gloves?

Face coverings are no longer required by patients and families (1 September 2022).

Staff will continue to wear face masks with patients in some areas.

Can I arrive early?

At present, we are asking that families arrive 15 minutes before their appointments. We understand some people have long journeys and may want to arrive early, but ask that you do everything you can to avoid coming into the building earlier than you need to.

This is to help us keep the number of visitors as low as possible at any one time. To facilitate this, some of our normal waiting areas are closed.

Will I be seen in the same place?

There may be changes to your appointment. For example, we might ask you to attend a different location to normal. Even if you are seen in the same location, it is likely to look a bit different. Your appointment may be in a different room and we may ask you to sit in a different place.

We’ll have lots of signs to help you understand what to do and where to go.

Will I be asked questions when I arrive?

Yes, it is likely that you will be stopped on arrival and asked the purpose of your visit. This is to minimise the number of visitors to the building.

Anyone who doesn’t need to be inside the building for an appointment (in other words anyone other than the patient and one parent/carer) will be asked to wait outside. Siblings will only be allowed to attend in exceptional circumstances.

Please understand that our colleagues are only asking these questions to protect the children and families coming to visit to us.

Why can’t I just have a video or phone appointment?

Many of our appointments are carried out by video or phone, and we aim to do that wherever possible. However there are still times where a face-to-face appointment is more suitable – for example so the clinician can carry out an examination of the child, to allow weighing and measuring, or for us to take blood samples.

Will I be seen by the same people?

While staff might look different in their PPE, it’s the same friendly team offering the same great care.

What PPE will staff be wearing?

The PPE our staff wear varies depending on the work they are doing. You can see more about the types of PPE we wear here.

We have COVID-19 symptoms. What should we do?
If you have COVID-19 symptoms, make sure you follow the NHS COVID-19 guidance. If you already have an appointment booked with us, please do not attend the hospital site. Please call us and let us know on 0114 305 3691 and we will arrange an appointment for another time.

See our video guides about Coming to Outpatients:

We’ve tried to make coming for an appointment as easy as possible – just follow these steps:

1. The Outpatients Department is just inside the main entrance which you can access from Clarkson Street.

2. Use the self-service check-in screens to let us know you’re here. If you have any problems you can check in at reception.

3. Take a seat and wait for your child’s name to appear on the call screens. The screens will tell you where you need to go for your appointment.

4. If you don’t want your child’s name to appear on the screens, have a word with our reception team and they will arrange an alternative for you.

Find out more about coming for an appointment and what to expect during your appointment.

Clinics at other locations

Some outpatient clinics are held in particular units such as cystic fibrosis, hearing services or oncology and haematology, while some are seen at different sites including Centenary House, the Ryegate Children’s Centre and the Northern General Hospital (OPD2). Your appointment letter will tell you where you need to go.

Further information is available on the Sheffield Teaching Hospitals website – Northern General Hospital – how to get here – and in the Sheffield Hospital Guide produced by South Yorkshire Transport.

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