The waiting time starts from the date the hospital receives your referral. The majority of referrals are sent through to Lincolnshire Each (Elective Activity Coordination Hub) a service who work on behalf of GP Practices to coordinate and clinically triage, and assess suitability and the most appropriate service for your ongoing care. Please contact them directly 

Email: LICB.lincolnshire.each@nhs.net 

or call 01522 309500 Monday to Friday 8am to 8pm (excluding bank holidays).

Lincolnshire ‘EACH’ - patient referrals to community services and hospitals - Lincolnshire ICB

You can track your referral by:

• Using the NHS App: You will be able to view your hospital appointments and referral details in the NHS App and view out-patient letters etc once seen.
• Checking with the Provider: If your referral isn't showing in the App, you will need to contact the hospital or service directly.

• If you have been referred to Peterborough City Hospital, please ring the Outpatients Contact Centre on 01733 673555 to track or manage your appointment. If you were referred via the NHS e-Referral Service, please call 0345 608 8888

  If you have been referred to Addenbrooke's Hospital, please call the Patient Access Centre at 01223 805000 or the Appointments Office directly at 01223 216410

  To check on a new NHS referral to Royal Papworth Hospital, please call the main switchboard on 01223 638000 and ask to be connected to the Appointments Office or the specific clinic your GP referred you to.

After the referral has been made, the practice does not have any control over waiting times and when you will be contacted with an appointment. Once seen by the hospital, we are unable to advise how long it will be before your results will be available at the practice. To note, if you change your mind about the hospital you have been referred through to, a new referral will need to be made, and you will have to start the process again. This will inevitably delay cause delays.

Guidance is given here on the referral process through to NHS Specialist Services

Referrals for specialist care - NHS

Lincolnshire NHS Integrated Care Board's guidance on patient referrals:

'NHS Lincolnshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) oversees Prior Approval Policy for all referral activity from primary care providers through to secondary care. This was introduced in 1995 to ensure that the NHS only commissioned evidence-based and clinically effective services'

Strict criteria and thresholds apply, which a provider must adhere to when making a referral, otherwise it will be rejected.

Many referrals are forwarded through to a central triage service who review and decide if a patient meets the threshold to progress the referral to further specialist intervention; for some more specialist services, they will decide where the patient will be seen. On occasion, it may be rejected, and this decision is not one that is made by the GP practice. You can view further information on Lincolnshire ICB website:

Lincolnshire ‘EACH’ - patient referrals to community services and hospitals - Lincolnshire ICB

We understand that this can of course be frustrating to a patient; there are many treatments across a broad range of specialities, that are simply no longer available through NHS funded care pathways.

The maximum waiting time for non-urgent, consultant-led treatments is 18 weeks from the day your appointment is booked through the NHS e-Referral Service, or when the hospital or service receives your referral letter. More urgent referrals will be forwarded through a separate process.

Waiting Times:

You can checks the NHS guidance here.

Guide to NHS waiting times in England - NHS

Current NHS Waiting Times are here:

My Planned Care NHS