The wait for NHS test results is cruel and anxiety inducing

Just wait until the big gobs start shouting that people who die, and some dont have a penny to their name and look down the sofa for spare change.

I 100% agree that the NHS is dead. There are massive time wasters, people who take no personal responsibility for their own health and who are often the ones who arent positive contributors to the pot. if you ahd to oay say £5 or £10 to see a Dr then maybe people who think more carefully.

A friends elderly Mum is always at the GP's. Pain in her head, feels a little unwell and last month called an ambulance because she thought she was having a heart attack. She is within walking distance of the surgery which I dont think helps. I know from my late Mum that elderly people are very health anxious. They also have the time to be 'checked out' by the surgery. I went to have my flu jab at the weekend and it was heaving. Two people were actually trying to grab a Dr who was doing the jabs to discuss a health issue 'whilst they were there'.

Its a complete bun fight now and dont get me started on the state of hospitals. My Late Mum was on a ward which was supposedly female. There was literally a wall between her and the MALE ward. One night a man dressed only in a pull up tried to get into bed with her. She screamed out and the nurse came and tried to make light of it and was even joking to the man about trying to find a new girlfriend. It was truly like a third world country.

I waited 26 weeks for my smear results and even longer for a colposcopy. I was made to feel like an inconvenience anytime I called to chase up either the results or the colposcopy appointment& laughed at when I asked if I could have pain relief for the colposcopy 🤯 painless procedure my backside 😭

OP, it's on the NHS website that of every 100 women routinely screened, on average 4 are recalled. And even of those 4, 3 of them are found not to have cancer.

If there was a problem, you would almost certainly have heard by now. They would have phoned you or sent a letter. The 2-3 week wait is mainly down to the admin of sending "all ok" letters to the 96% of people screened. It doesn't take long to contact the 4%. They aim to have people on a treatment pathway within 28 days, so if they had seen anything concerning, they wouldn't wait 14-21 days before contacting you. So don't worry about it now.

Why have you been waiting 15 weeks? Do you mean you’re waiting to see a consultant following your scan? Why gas your GP not chased this up??

As others have said, in most cases the results come a lot faster (and are fast-tracked if abnormalities are seen by the radiographer).

For example - I recently had to have a repeat blood test as abnormalities were indicated on a routine one. Had it Friday morning - result (normal) was visible on my NHS app the following Monday.

Not a mammogram but I had an ultrasound scan last year and I got told up to 3 weeks for the results and was called the next day (it was actually all within 24hrs of my scan) by my gp and was back very quickly for further scans. So I think they do have an overall review and if something looks bad you get notified quicker and then if not your results go to the double check and type it up pile (a very unmedical way of writing that!)

Out of interest, how do you think the mammogram result (or indeed any imaging) gets reported?

A lot of people don't realise that it's an actual doctor, specialising in radiology. So the radiographer does the scan. Anything worrying gets put to the top of the radiologist's pile to be reported more urgently. Some specialist radiographers are also able to read specific types of scan.

Some scans like chest X rays all doctors are expected to be able to interpret and so if you have an X ray in A&E, the doctor who is looking after you will give you immediate results. Those X-Rays do eventually get reported by a radiologist and a written report sent to the patients records, but often it takes many many weeks as they're not a priority. I feel like if you put it that way, a 3 week wait to see a hospital specialist isn't bad.

Do you have a NHS log in? I find the results for tests are usually on there in your medical records long before they get around to calling you. Mind you checking that everyday is just as anxiety inducing.

I agree with the concept of a small charge to all. However as the majority of no-shows are people in deprivation, and likely on benefits, if you don't charge them it won't fix the DNA rate. If you do try and charge them there will be uproar and cries of we are not protecting our most vulnerable. To all those MN that keep quoting we pay our NI for the NHS, clearly some of that goes to the NHS, but the majority is funding state pensions.
We need to get more people working and contributing NI in this country. There's too many who are just takers.

Actually if you've got good health insurance with your job in the states, your annual mammo is free as are other recurring "proactive" tests (colonoscopy, pap smear, annual bloodwork and complete metabolic panel, etc.) that may save the insurance company money in the long run if problems are caught early!

I'm sorry you're anxious, OP, but don't be ridiculous. 3 weeks is not a long time to wait for a routine mammogram. Your NI goes towards much more than just your use of the NHS – it's state pension, maternity allowance, jobseekers allowance, bereavement benefit ... need I go on?

I do know that approximately 20% of the total income tax and NI contributions combined are spent on Health in England. And a starting cost for treatment for breast cancer is approximately £10k, rising to well over £100k so averaging £45k. If that figure is less than 20% of someone’s combined tax and NI contribution ((£225k) then yes, they’ve paid in more than the cost of their treatment. I doubt your average £30k a year earner would pay anything like that n tax / NI in their lifetime though.

Sort your anxiety out OP. Waiting for test results is no biggie.

Very much the same as it is here then.

I have only ever had one mammogram and that was due to finding a lump, obviously I was sent to hospital on the 3 week thingy. My results were instant (got the all clear). Most routine mammograms are done in the Mobil mammogram units? So I am guessing there is no one there trained to check over them, they have to be sent off and looked at. The wait time is similar for a smear test.

I don’t understand the issue of waiting when it’s a routine test? If you had concerns about an actually lump then your gp would send you to be checked out and the results would come quicker?

I know waiting is hard. I had a smear test come back as high risk, I then had to have a biopsy and wait for the results (I think it took 10 days in the end), it was stressful but mainly because my test had already come back as high risk. I tried to keep myself busy and not think about it too much, it wouldn’t have made any difference to the outcome.

Oh god, another 'new account, look how shit the nhs is' poster.

I wish people wouldn't just spout nonsense about how they think the NHS is funded... I used to work here and it's a really good overview of how it works:
https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/insight-and-analysis/data-and-charts/nhs-budget-nutshell

It's a routine scan - if there were problems they would let you know sooner. If you have to wait three weeks then it likely means there is no issue. I'd be happy to wait three weeks to be told I am perfectly fine. Anxiety is another thing and, as you say OP, you need to get help with that.

Assuming you had a mammogram approximately a year ago, Have you worried for the last 11 months that you might have breast cancer? Or is the worrying somehow worse in the three weeks after the mammogram? Were you this worried for say the month or two before you had the mammogram, or does your anxiety only kick in once you have had it?

There's Medicaid and private charity as well. I wouldn't say the US system is perfect, but on quality of care (given the fact you have money) it's better and faster.

I'm in Sweden and we have national mass screening, every 2 years from when you turn 40. A big truck parks up in the healthcentre carpark. Everyone due that year gets scanned in the back of the truck. Results come in the post 3 or 4 weeks later.

Call backs are quick. I've been called back 3 times and the appointment has always been within a week of receiving the letter. The last time I had to have a biopsy and those results took a week. They rang me to tell me those results were in and set up an appointment for the next day.

Not true. I had a recall by letter. Maybe it depends where you live.

We all know that the NHS as a system is broken but it’s so difficult to fix and there would need to be cross party consensus on how to do this with assurances about how to fund any new system.
We should be working towards a system like they have in France or Norway for example. A small charge to see a GP (would see off the time wasters/no-shows) and no charge for those on qualifying benefits. You can get scans and test results done very quickly.

100% agree with you OP but you have forgotten that the NHS is a sacred cow that can’t be criticised because it’s “free”.
I moved country and the country I moved to mammograms are also available free and my turnaround was two days last time.
I recently had a suspect mole removed. Wait for biopsy result was over four weeks on the NHS. When I had this overseas the dr rang me with the all clear next morning.

How is your anxiety sky high? That word is thrown around all the time and over a routine test? The NHS is broken. It spends the extra money each govenment gives them with no real improvement.

I wish someone would look at other Europe models of providing health care. The NHS is massively bloated. Far too many bean counters, clip board managers and of course the general public who are demanding more and more.

The sooner we all accept this the better. If a routine health test concerns you you really need to look at the private service.

But that would mean first recognizing that there is a need for a change, and not being a nation of ostriches with their heads in the sand ignoring that there is any other possibility apart from turning into US fully private capitalistic health system.