Text telling me about a hospital appointment

[TiesThatBindMe]

Received a text yesterday along the lines of "We are expecting you for your appointment at XX hospital at 3pm on the 20th. If you do not attend it will cost the NHS £160. To cancel ring xxxxxxx number'.

The hospital mentioned is one I've been a patient at, but I am not aware of, nor have I received any letter regarding any outpatient appointment.

Even if it is legitimate, I don't know what department it's for! Do I just show up with some spurious text?

Does this sound dodgy to anyone bar myself?

If it is for a smear test, you can decline it. The doctors cannot force you to have tests or treatments without your consent.

I get these texts, it's probably a wrong number

If it costs the NHS £160 if I DNA an orthopaedics appointment, I wonder how much it costs if I show up?

op. Your anxiety is totally understandable.

I routinely get those kind of texts for routine an annual check up. The wording winds me up. The consultant is invariably running late and no value is placed on my time. Last time I was there, I was seen three hours after my appointed time.

Anyway, your appointment isn't with Audiology, as that's just £110.

Call the main switchboard and ask to speak to appointments and ask them if you have an appointment? If not say you have received a text message in error. I go to 3 different hospitals in 3 different NHS areas and they all send similar texts sometimes I haven't received a letter so it's a good job. Hope you get sorted.

I am a nanny for a little boy with CP. we have appointments about 3 times a week and I get his text every single time and it it is definitely legitimate.

If it is a hospital you know actually exists look up the phone number elsewhere rather than ringing the number on the text.

The thing about it is that I haven't been referred anywhere! This is just an appointment out of the blue. In any case, I'll ring in the morning. I will make sure to update you (unless they've discovered I have bubonic plague or something).

My hospital locally and great Ormond street send these texts. Your hospital may have an appts dept - ring the switchboard and ask.

Ok rtft now, OP do you have children/child that it could be an appt for? X

I got one as well - for SALT on Tuesday.

This is a legitimate text I've received for an appointment I have, so I think the text was meant for someone else Abd they've just input the wrong number. You'd usually get a letter too.

We are expecting you at XXXXXX hospital on 22/09/17 at 11:50 AM. Not attending costs the NHS £160 approx. To cancel or rebook call 020XXXX5702

Well if it is your appointment op I hope all goes well!

I had this exact same legitimate text. It was for the breast clinic. Ring the department and find out if you have an appointment which has been lost in the post!

That's the exact wording of texts I receive for my dd's appointments at our lical hospital. The last one adked me to text YES to confirm attendance.

Now I'm here waiting to hear if it is a follow up appointment and why the OP doesn't know she's referred anywhere.

And for you. I doubt it'd the be smear text and I'm so sorry the mere thought causes such an awful reaction. Not surprising really. I hope your GP can help find a solution as it doesn't seem worth the risk of never having one again either.

So sorry about what happened to you. As many others have said, you wouldn't get an appointment made for you for a smear, much as they promote and encourage them, they are still very much your choice to book if you want to. Irrelevent here as you know the number is genuine, but I don't get the posts saying 'it can't be a scam as the wording is the same as that on my, legitimate, hospital texts.' Surely scammers are capable of accessing these and copying the exact wording, but with a fake number? Think you were right to be wary, even though it seems it was legit this time.

I had promised to update but as luck (my luck) would have it, I was assaulted yesterday so between nursing wounds and police taking a statement today I again completely forgot to ring them. The appointment is tomorrow at 3pm. If I wake up early enough tomorrow (just taken a sleeping tablet as quite stressed), I'll ring them. Otherwise I'll just get a taxi there for 3pm and find out then I guess. I haven't the head-space at the moment to figure out buses, plus I look like something out of fight club. Never a bloody dull moment with me. TMI I guess but I needed to get that off my chest! Dear oh dear.

PS I am aware that this reads like a 'how to troll' thread. I just seem to be unfortunate these days.

Shit TiesThatBindme
That's dreadful, hope you're ok, I wouldn't worry about the appointment, don't go, it's likely an error if you've not had a referral recently or an appointment letter, so don't trek somewhere unnecessarily.
Hope you can get some sleep

Thank you gin. I'll do my best to at least remember to ring the buggers tomorrow and cancel if I feel it's unnecessary. Hope I get some sleep too.

(((((((Mega Hugs))))))))))

I would think it would be unethical for them to go through with any procedure where you never received the correspondence and haven't had fair warning of what they want to do. How can you validly consent to whatever-it-is if you don't find out what it is until just before they start? Given that, I think it may be best to cancel.

Crikey op you really are going through the mill

I hope you can get to the bottom of this and you've managed some sleep