Managed to speak to someone at hospital. Said to contact my GP. Filled in an online form on GP practice’s website. Got a text from them saying I need to visit them with a face 2 face appt! Why does it need a face 2 face appt? Could have done this over the phone. Instead I am blocking someone who has an urgent health matter over me with my appt!
Geez!
If you want to be seen by a consultant/specialist in a hospital then generally you need your "primary" care physician aka your GP to refer you, unless you're already a current patient under some department for a known condition and are having regular appointments, scheduled follow-ups etc.
If you've been seen for this before then perhaps you were discharged later, check your old letters.
Your GP needs to make a decision on whether to refer you or not, you can't just demand it, if you've got private insurance then it's pretty much automatic though and if you simply want to pay privately yourself then you don't even need a GP referral (just pick a consultant and phone their private secretary directly, they will pick up the phone!), otherwise, your first point of contact is your GP and a referral letter from them.
As for the face-to-face appointment vs telephone... maybe they want to examine you first or maybe they're returning to face-to-face appointments in general as the standard appointment type.
If you're referred and have an appointment then you'll likely have a consultant you're due to see, instead of phoning the department number (which might go through to some busy reception desk and be ignored) you can phone up the relevant NHS/hospital switchboard and ask to speak to the medical secretary of the consultant you've been referred to, but it doesn't seem like you're at that stage.
