How Your Appointment is Made

How your appointment is made:
You attend the out patients department by appointment only. Your appointment will have been arranged by your GP or a Consultant who will have sent a referral to the relevant specialist.
Your appointment will be sent to your home address and will include details of date, time and Consultant.
If you are attending a fracture clinic the appointment may have be arranged by the doctor who saw you in the A&E department at the time of your accident.
If you are unable to attend please notify the Out patients department so that your appointment can be assigned to another person. If desired a further appointment will be forwarded by post to you.
Out Patients Department 045 849845.

First Visit

• Please bring the following:
• Your appointment letter or card.
• Any medication you are taking. This includes inhalers and insulin.
• If you are attending a diabetic clinic please bring your blood sugar diary.
• Any specialist x-ray films you may have to bring to your consultant.
• Blood test results, which your GP may done prior to your clinic visit.

Helpful Hints

• If you need physical assistance to get to your clinic please ask at main reception for a wheelchair.
• Please bring only one person with you if possible as seating is limited. Children must be supervised at all times.
• If you wear a hearing aid or spectacles please do not forget to bring them with you.

The Clinic

Please do not attend any more than 20 minutes before your appointment time, as the secretary will only check you in 15 prior to your allocated appointment time.
You will check in at the desk and the consultant’s secretary will check that your personal details are correct. This is very important, as the doctor will dictate a letter to your GP following consultation. You will then be asked to take a seat in the appropriate waiting area.
Some minor tests may be taken prior to seeing the doctor. These may include x-ray, blood pressure, weight, urinalysis and/or electrocardiograph. If you are attending a fracture clinic your cast may be removed in the plaster room before you see the doctor.
Once you have seen the doctor you will be given a note to bring to the secretary for a follow up appointment if necessary. You may also be given blood test forms which may be taken immediately or your may have to make an appointment for a fasting blood test. This will be done in the phlebotomy room which is located near the main entrance of the Out patients department.

Facilities

Refreshments
The Coffee Shop is located in the main reception area of the hospital. The shop is also located in this area and sells newspapers, magazines and soft drinks.

Public Toilets
There are public and wheelchair accessible toilets on both floors of the Out patients department. If you are unsure of where to go, please ask any staff member.

GP Information

All appointments are given following receipt of a referral letter on your patient. Please make sure that all patient details are correctly as patients receive their appointment details via the post.

Anticoagulation Clinic

The Anticoagulation clinic is located on the ground floor of Vista Primary Care Centre, Ballymore Eustace Road, Naas, Co Kildare. The Anticoagulation clinic operates a 5-day week service Monday 9-4pm, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday 8-4pm and Friday 8-3pm. If you have a query you can leave a message any time on 045849791 and we will return your call as soon as possible.

This clinic is a Nurse monitoring service provided by the hospital for patients who are on Warfarin with a Consultant Haematologist governance. Warfarin efficacy is monitored using the International Normalised Ratio (INR) The target INR range is guided for specific clinical presentations.

If it is your first visit to the clinic please allow a half an hour, as a nurse will do an education session with you so that you may fully understand your treatment. You may want to bring somebody to the clinic with you on your first visit, as it can be overwhelming at first.

Please bring all your medication with you along with your yellow book, which contains the details of your Warfarin therapy. Medication includes all herbal or vitamin preparations you are taking as these can affect your Warfarin dosage.

While you are at the clinic either Prothombin Time analysis (whole blood) is provided by the accredited (ISO 15189) Anticoagulation Laboratory service or a fingerprick sampling with specialised strips, via a Near Patient testing (NPT) device is used. The INR result and warfarin dose will be written in your yellow book along with a date and time of your next appointment. If you are unsure of the altered dose please do not hesitate to contact one of the nurses who run the clinic.