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University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust

Outpatient appointments

If your GP or Optician decides that your eye condition needs to be investigated by more specialist staff, they will arrange for you to have an outpatient appointment with us. We will send you a letter confirming the date, time and location of your appointment with us. 

Please read this letter carefully to make sure you have understood all the details.  It is especially important to note the location of your appointment. (Please note: Not all appointments are at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital) Wherever possible, we will try to ensure that you are seen and treated close to where you live.

The tests we complete at most eye appointments mean that you are very unlikely to be able to drive yourself home. If you require eye drops to let us examine the back of your eye these will dilate your pupil and blur your vision for a few hours.  If you plan to travel by car, you will need to arrange for someone to pick you up after your appointment or make alternative travel arrangements.

Cancelling or changing your outpatient appointment

You can cancel or change your outpatient appointment by calling us as follows:

Please call the Appointments Team on 0300 019 4740

To help us deal with your request as quickly as possible, please provide the following information when making your cancellation or change request:

  • Your full name
  • Your Hospital number (this can be found on your appointment letter) or date of birth
  • A contact telephone number
  • The date and time of your original appointment 

If you cannot attend your appointment for any reason, please let us know as soon as possible, we can then offer the appointment to someone else. 

If you fail to attend your appointment and do not notify us in advance, you might not be automatically issued with a new appointment and could have to return to your GP to make a new appointment with us. 

Our Locations

We run clinics and provide surgery at various local departments, but please note not all services are available at all sites.

  • Bournemouth - Royal Bournemouth Hospital, Castle Lane East, Bournemouth BH7 7DW
  • Poole - Poole Hospital, Longfleet Road, Poole BH15 2JB (Outpatients Clinic 2, Pink Zone)
  • Christchurch – Christchurch Hosptial, Fairmile Road, Christchurch BH23 2JX
  • Wimborne -  Victoria Community Hospital, Victoria Road, Wimborne BH21 1ER
  • Swanage – Swanage Hospital, Queens Road, Swanage BH19 2ET
  • Blandford – Blandford Community Hospital, Milldown Road, Blandford Forum, DT11 7DD

What to bring with you

We suggest that you bring the following items with you to your outpatient appointment:

  • Your appointment letter
  • Medicines or eye drops in correctly labelled containers or a copy of your prescription from your GP listing all your medication
  • A note of any allergies
  • Your current glasses and/or contact lenses (and glasses prescription, if available) including any cases, storage containers and solutions.
  • Sunglasses – some patients find these useful after they have had drops put in their eyes
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