Outpatients

If you need to change your appointment, please contact us on the number below as soon as possible and at least 7 days before your scheduled appointment date. If you do not attend without letting us know, you may not be offered another appointment. If your child is too unwell to attend on the day, please still let us know so that we can understand the reason that you were unable to make it and can discuss alternatives. The Appointments Office can be contacted Monday – Friday, 9am-4.30pm on 0131 312 1547 or 0131 312 1548.

During your visit to Outpatients, there are different people that you might meet.  These include doctors, nurses, receptionists, play specialists, dieticians, surgeons, porters, radiographers or one of our helpful volunteers.  Adults in the hospital might wear different uniforms, or sometimes their own clothes.  Everyone you meet will tell you their name and who they are.

Visits to outpatients are usually because a doctor, nurse or other specialist has asked to see you and talk to you about how you’re feeling.  You might have a condition that needs regular check-ups or has recently had an operation or has broken a bone. Outpatient visits usually start with having your height and weight measured, before your appointment starts. During your visit you might be asked to have some tests, like an x-ray, scan or blood test. Sometimes specialists from areas of medicine like respiratory (breathing), the allergy team, or orthopaedics (muscles and bones) might want to see you.

You might be offered an appointment by telephone, or a video appointment using ‘Near Me’, a secure two-way video app. Using Near Me means that you don’t have to take time away from school to travel to the hospital and can have your appointment from home – or sometimes from a quiet place at nursery or school. All you need is a smart phone or tablet and a WiFi connection. If your appointment is using Near Me, you will be given instructions for how to join the call and meet the doctor, nurse or specialist. Find out more here: https://www.nearme.scot/

Outpatients are on the ground floor of the Royal Hospital for Children & Young People.  Enter through the main entrance, and you’ll find The Pod, our wonderful waiting area.  Your parent or adult will need to go to the Outpatients reception and let them know you have arrived.  They will be asked to confirm your name, address, date of birth and telephone number to ensure we have the right information about you.  There are different coloured waiting zones – you will be asked to sit in the GREEN, BLUE or ORANGE zone. Your clinic or treatment room could be on the ground floor, or sometimes on the first floor.

You might have to wait during your visit – but there is plenty to do, including exploring The Pod.

https://youtu.be/jU3vG1h-VXE A blood test, sometimes called Phlebotomy, can sometimes tell doctors about making you feel unwell or giving them information about what is going on inside your body.  Having a blood test does not take long – and our specialist nurses will make sure that it’s done as quickly as possible for you. Learn more about Blood Tests