You have been referred by a PCP (primary care practitioner, i.e. family physician or nurse practitioner) to Dr. Lalor who is a gastroenterologist. A gastroenterologist is a specialist in conditions of esophagus, stomach, small and large intestines, pancreas and liver.
You will be scheduled for a CONSULTATION, or for an ENDOSCOPY.
YOU MAY BE ASKED TO FILL OUT A QUESTIONNAIRE - SEE UNDER "FORMS".
A CONSULTATION is an office visit, with a history (asking questions) and a physical examination. You may be sent for tests afterwards, or occasionally before the appointment, and these may include blood tests, imaging such as ultrasound or CT scan, and sometimes endoscopy.
The CONSULTATION DOES not require fasting, and will not involve the performance of any endoscopy nor any sedation/drugs.
Based on the information provided to us by the PCP, ie primary care provider (family doctor or nurse practitioner), some patients are booked directly for endoscopy (gastroscopy or colonoscopy) That means that Dr Lalor has reviewed your situation, and decided that it would save time (and might allow more urgent diagnosis or treatment) if you were booked directly for a procedure. You can discuss this with your PCP, and you, or they, can always request an office consultation beforehand, but the delay for the consultation can at times be many more months than the waiting time for the procedure.
You will always need a responsible adult to pick you up after an endoscopic procedure if sedation is used. They need to come into the hospital, and you will not be released to meet them outside.
We have to charge for cancellations, without adequate notice, or no-show's. This policy is approved by OMA and CPSO.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR APPOINTMENT - READ THE FOLLOWING CAREFULLY:
You have been referred by your primary care practitioner (family doctor or nurse practitioner) to Dr. Lalor, who is a gastroenterologist (a specialist in disorders of esophagus, stomach, small and large intestines, liver and pancreas).
- Based on the information which was provided to us, we will be arranging an appointment for you to undergo either an office consultation, or endoscopic procedure (gastroscopy, colonoscopy, or less commonly, ERCP). These procedures will be performed at RVH.
- You have been provided the approximate number of months for the appointment, in either the text, email or voicemail that was sent to you after we received your referral. The referring health professional that referred you to Dr. Lalor has also been notified of this wait time. If you feel this wait time is not appropriate, you will need to see that referring PCP, and ask them to update the referral with reasons why you should be seen sooner. The healthcare system is currently stressed, in Ontario, and Canada, with inadequate numbers of primary care practitioners and inadequate numbers of specialists and specialist resources (including endoscopy time). We encourage you to call your MPP and let them know of your dissatisfaction with the wait times in Ontario.
What you need to do to organize this appointment :
- Telephone our office at the beginning of your wait time. For example, if you have received, in December, a wait time of 2-6 months, then you need to call us in February, and you will be booked before the end of June.
- Please leave a message. We will respond in 24-48 hours. The office phone lines are open Monday to Thursday, 9 till 12, and 1 PM-3 PM. When we speak, we will want to confirm your telephone number(s), and an email address, which may be used (for appointments only). We will need to know if you want to be added to a cancellation list. We will also need to know if you have seen any other gastroenterologist in the past 5 years, and if, and when, you have had either a previous gastroscopy or colonoscopy. Please have this information available (or arrange for it to be faxed to us beforehand).
- We may not book you during the initial phone interaction as we schedule only 3 months in advance. If this is the case, we will explain this to you, and then call you back closer to the time, to schedule an appointment that works for you as well as for us. If we leave a message for you to call us, please do so promptly. If we do not have a response after leaving 2 messages, we will notify your referring practitioner that we have been unable to reach you. If this happens, your file will be closed.
- You must choose an appointment date and time that you are 100% sure that you can keep. We are flexible, and our staff will work with you.
- When the appointment has been made (i.e. confirmed) with you, you will be notified of our cancellation and confirmation policy which is : we require 5 business days notice to change or cancel an appointment, or there will be a re-booking fee of $50-$200, depending on what type of appointment was previously made. All appointments must be confirmed one more time, by yourself, through our phone system, or by email, one week prior to the appointment. If we do not have this confirmation from you, the appointment may be canceled without notice.
We apologize that this sounds harsh, but we are trying to provide the best service to the largest number of patients, and it is remarkable how unreliable and thoughtless some people are.
You will need to bring to the appointment the following :
- An up-to-date list of all your prescription medications, any over-the-counter medications, and any herbal, natural complementary products or supplements.
- Your green and white OHIP health card. As of August 1, 2018, we are no longer able to accept the old red and white OHIP card. If you have a red and white card, you will need to update this card with Service Ontario as soon as possible.
- Please explore this website, familiarize yourself with as much information as you can about your appointment, your symptoms, and any previous gastroenterology diagnoses.
- You are encouraged to bring an adult family member or close friend to the appointment. There may be considerable information provided, in writing and/or verbally.
- You can email our office ([email protected]), about appointment times and dates, but we cannot accept any medical information.