Your visit
Prepared for your visit.
Clear about the next step.
A practical guide to contacting the practice, bringing the requested records and confirming your appointment arrangements.
Contact the practice
Arrange registration or call the practice. The team confirms your appointment date and time.
Prepare your records
Bring the documents requested by the practice, including relevant reports and your medication list.
Confirm arrangements
The team will confirm the appointment details and explain the next administrative steps.
Before your assessment.
- Confirm the appointment.
Check the date, time and arrangements with the practice. An online enquiry is not a confirmed booking.
- Gather the requested records.
Prepare relevant reports, existing assessments or treatment plans and your current medication list.
- Confirm the document route.
Use only the secure pathway confirmed by the practice. Do not put medical records into public comments or a general chatbot.
- Bring your questions.
Use the consultation to understand the condition, discuss options and clarify your next steps.
Your appointment checklist.
- Register and confirm
Contact the practice for registration assistance, then confirm the appointment date, time and location with the team. Tell us about mobility, language or other access needs.
- Bring the essentials
Bring your identification, medical-aid details if applicable, referral letter, medication and allergy list, relevant reports and access to previous scans.
- Ask about preparation
Confirm whether you need any specific preparation, someone to accompany you or transport home. Follow the instructions provided for your planned appointment.
- Before you leave
Confirm the care plan, how you will receive results, your next review date and the contact route for concerns.
Surgery & recovery
Preparing for your procedure.
Supported through recovery.
Open the recovery conversation guide
Your surgeon, anaesthetist and hospital team will give instructions for your procedure, medical history and recovery. Keep those instructions together and ask the team to explain anything that is unclear.
General information to help you prepare. Your individual treatment and discharge instructions take priority.
Before your procedure
- Confirm the arrangements.
Check the procedure, hospital, admission date, arrival time and where to report.
- Bring your questions.
Ask about expected benefits, risks, alternatives and likely recovery. Tell the team what matters most to you.
- Prepare your medicines information.
Bring an up-to-date list of medicines, doses, allergies and previous procedures, including non-prescription, herbal and traditional medicines.
- Get your own written instructions.
Confirm fasting and medicines advice with your treating team. Do not stop or change blood thinners, diabetes treatment or other medicines based on a website or chatbot answer.
- Plan ahead.
Confirm the tests and documents needed, report a new illness or change in health, and arrange transport and suitable help at home. Ask when driving, work and usual activities can resume.
Severe or sudden breathlessness, chest pain, collapse, or a suddenly very painful, cold, pale, numb or weak arm or leg needs emergency assessment. Do not wait for a website, email or chatbot reply.
Getting help after treatment
Seek prompt medical assessment for new one-sided leg pain or swelling. If this occurs with breathlessness or chest pain, seek emergency care. For a change in your wound, new fever or a recovery concern, follow the contact route in your discharge instructions or contact your treating team promptly.
For non-emergency arrangements, call 011 462 0659, Monday–Friday, 08:00–17:00. Online messages are not an emergency service. If you cannot reach the team and believe you need urgent assessment, attend an appropriate urgent-care service.
Helpful reading
- Preparing for an operation — NHS
- Hospital admission information — Netcare
- What a vascular surgeon does — Society for Vascular Surgery
These independent resources provide general information. NHS service numbers and administrative pathways apply to the UK; use local emergency and hospital services in South Africa.
Prepare your questions
Useful conversations through your care journey
Different procedures need different recovery plans. These questions can help you understand your own plan and discuss concerns with your treating team.
01 · Before treatment
- What are the expected benefits, important risks and alternatives for me?
- Who will give me my individual written preparation instructions, and whom should I contact if something is unclear?
- What transport, help at home or equipment should I arrange?
02 · Before going home
- What happened during treatment, and what should I expect next?
- Do I have written instructions for my wound or access site, daily activities and any prescribed treatment?
- Who should I contact during and outside office hours, and when and where is my next review?
03 · At home
- Are any instructions unclear, or is something different from what my team said to expect?
- Do I know whom to contact about a wound concern or new symptom?
- Have I checked my individual instructions before resuming work, driving or other activities?
04 · At follow-up
- What has changed since treatment, and which concerns should I raise?
- Do any results or further assessments need discussion?
- What is the next agreed plan, and how will I know when another review is needed?
Use your care team's own instructions. These questions do not set a recovery timetable or change your prescribed treatment. Ask your treating team to clarify anything you do not understand.
Sources checked 25 September 2026: NHS: seeing a specialist; NHS: after surgery; NHS: recovery. Procedure-neutral conversation prompts, not an individual care plan. Source links do not imply institutional endorsement.