. . . to think this letter from the NHS is depressing, upsetting, frustrating . . .

[RedPandaFluff]

Had a routine eye test at a high street optician and the retina scan (which I paid extra for on a "why not?" basis) showed that the layers of my macula are separating, with what could be fluid - possible macular oedema. The optician gave me a letter for my GP asking for an urgent referral to the eye hospital as this needs investigating. The GP made the referral, and I got this letter (pic) back. It's been a month and still nothing - the optician said she would really want me to be seen within a couple of weeks.

It just makes me incredibly sad and depressed. This is an urgent referral, but it isn't life-threatening (assuming it's just fluid) but it frightens me to think of all the people that aren't receiving treatment for what could be serious issues, made worse by urgent referrals no longer being treated as such, and we're still blaming covid.

I feel a bit overwhelmed by how bad things have become.

All those ophthalmologists must be so tied up with acute respiratory covid cases…🤔

I had a family member who ended up paying to go private after her GP refused to do an urgent referral for a skin lesion. Consultant was so appalled he wrote to GP telling her to prescribe the medication (for the precancerous lesion) on the NHS.

Please go back and be pushy. It sounds like the beginning of macular degeneration. Some types e.g
Wet AMD can potentially progress from asymptomatic to significant visual impairment quite quickly if left untreated but can be treated if caught early. Get your GP and optician to kick up a fuss this week.

I’ve had the same type of letter x3 but all 3 times an appointment letter showed up no more than 2 weeks later. I don’t understand such differences we're all getting! From going to my GP and getting referred it took just 3 months to get my surgery and that was life changing but not an emergency.

The NHS is definitely in dire needs and I feel for everyone posting here!

Send a copy of the letter to your MP. It may not unfortunately help with your personal situation but there are questions that need to be raised publicly.

Absolutely right. And the waste which is caused by the poor communication, inefficiency and complete lack of proper organisation. My husband has been seriously unwell this past nine months and OMG it’s staggeringly bad. MRI, no follow up appointment for weeks on end then when it finally happened the consultant off handedly said oh it’s too long since the scan, you’ll have to have another, goodbye. In hospital, his procedure got cancelled because they gave him breakfast. Just stupid careless ineptitude, and no acknowledgement, just the brush off. Nobody seems able to explain the plan, or show any understanding of the concept of us wanting to know what it is. I get they’re busy but what we’ve experienced is utterly disgusting and unacceptable. Basic care standards do not seem to exist and nobody seems to care.

My Dad lost his hearing recently, as in deaf suddenly over a few days.
The GP referral initially had a letter similar to yours.
He was also referred to audiology, after 3 months he was allowed in the system to book. The hearing test was profound in one ear and borderline profound/ severe in the other. From presumably a life long of normal. He’s still working age, working as a teacher so I’d say it’s pretty unusual.
He still can’t get an appointment with anyone to investigate why this has happened, a consultant or anything to investigate what caused it.
Its a significant impact on his life and work to suddenly face a profound hearing loss, and concerning why it’s happened

I eventually managed to get hold of a community health worker (as opposed to a Health Vistor) to discuss my sons lack of speech (it took two weeks to have a 5 minute phone call). No drop in clinics have been reinstated in my county so you can’t ask a HV any questions. The community health worker asked me if I had looked online for what’s normal for speech at my son ages. I said yes and that why I was ringing as everywhere said her should have X words by now. I was then told to look at a particular website. I explained that I had and I had also taken the online assessment and it said to speak to a health visitor, hence me calling.

My son has now been referred for SLT. I was told the wait was 52 weeks and then later found out the wait was 84 weeks! I’m glad I raised the query now as if I had waited until my son had is 2 year health visitor review (which used to happen at 2 years and 4 months in my area but who knows now) then he would be seen just before starting school in September 2024!!!

If he’s not speaking in the next six month I will pay privately to see a SLT as there is no way I could waiting until just before he starts school!

Everyone I know in the past 2 years when their child has had a speech delay has paid privately to see a SLT. I feel sorry for the children with speech delays where their parents can’t afford to go private.

Unfortunately, it does seem something of a postcode lottery.

About 2-3 years ago (certainly prepandemic) my optician told me I had the start of cataracts, but not to worry, it would be 10 years before they became a problem. I took his advice not to worry, in fact I completely forgot about it!

Just over a year ago, my eyesight started deteriorating rapidly. As I'd forgotten this diagnosis, I went back to the optician expecting just to have my prescription changed. They examined me and said the cataracts were worsening quicker than normal, and I needed a opthalmology appointment as soon as. My GP made the referral, but in the meantime my eyesight deteriorated to the point I had to go off work sick. I couldn't see the computer properly and was making mistakes left, right and centre and was getting pain in my neck, shoulders and back from trying to view the computer properly. I'm mid 50s and it's not unheard of to get cataracts at my age, but obviously it's more common in older people.

I'm not sure if going off sick made my GP put pressure on the hospital to see me quicker (I'm an NHS nurse myself) but I got my first eye done within about 3 months of the GP making the referral. While my sight wasn't perfect after, it had improved enough to get back to work.

Unfortunately I then had a number of delays in getting my 2nd eye done. Last summer I had to postpone it because I was having gallbladder surgery, then a month after that I fell off my bike and badly broke my shoulder needing further surgery.

Fortunately I have now had the 2nd done I had the appointment in Feb and the surgery in March. So both eyes done within a year of referral, and all that with the shadow of covid, and my own health issues.

I do appear to have been lucky, but am eternally grateful to the NHS. The cataract surgery was definitely one of those 'life changing but not life saving ' treatments and I'm delighted with the results.

Here's an example- my cousin, in London, felt very unwell- stomach pain and bloating, couldn't eat, eas losing wait, constant headache, felt sick, upset stomach. Tried to make a GP appt, was told a nurse would telephone him within 4 days to triage whether he required a telephone appt with GP. He asked if he could have some blood tests. Answer no. Wait for nurse to telephone. Nurse never telephoned. On day 6 he rang again and was told a nurse would telephone in the next 4 days.
He paid to have blood tests privately which came back within 72 hours and someone rang to say his liver and kidney function tests were concerning and his cholesterol. They had sent the results to his GP but they thought he would need further tests and possibly a scan of some kind. He rang the GP practice to explain that the nurse would need to look at the results. A nurse rang - 7 days after it was promised. She had not looked at the results and said she could not comment but he could have a telephone appointment with 'a clinician' in 10 days time. He said he was very worried. She said it would be 10 days. 10 days later- he was still poorly and had lost 1.5 stone by then, a GP rang who had also not looked at the results and thought he was ringing about a headache. He refysed to discuss the results and made another appointment for 10 days time with a 'clinician'. My cousin continued to be ill and felt he could not wait. He saw a private consultant within 2 days who did a scan and further tests and diagnosed liver failure.
My cousin is now being treated by the NHS . In the meantime, 10 days on a GP rang and said the test results were concerning but suggested repeating them in 2 months time and if they had not improved he would refer him to a consultant.The GP was 'off' with him when he explained he had gone to a private consultant- in Harley St but who works for a large London NHS hospital as well.
30 days to even speak to his GP about his health never mind have a single test ir be referred to anyone - a referral was at least 2 further months off and then a waiting list of however long.
7 days to have tests, see a consultant and have a treatment plan in place privately.Possibly the same consultant he would have seen on the NHS.

The practices and protocols of the GP surgery are ludicrous, never mind the hospital practices and waiting times.

My 90 year old aunt- after 15 months of asking and being passed from one person to another some of whom told us outright lies- has eventually had 4 sessions of physiotherapy at our local hospital. The team of physiotherapists work in one large room. They have a desk each and there is a large treatment area with bays, equipments etc. There are 6 physios in there. They all wear a mask and we have never seen another patient. The other 5 physios do 'paperwork', phone calls and drink tea and coffee and chat to each other while she is being treated. I asked why it was so quiet. The answer was 'We are only seeing one patient at a time fir treatment because of Covid'. She has 45 minutes of treatment and there is 15 minutes of prep/cleaning. So instead of 6 patients every hour, they see one and the other 5 physios do nothing as far as I can see. It is a stupid, wasteful practice.

I think this is area specific.

I had the exact same problem just before the last lockdown. I was seen in a specialist Covid secure satellite building.

Problems round here are dental appointments.

I’ve got something called Addison’s disease. We can go into crisis. Which is life threatening and time critical. I also work with endocrine patients. So I’ve got real knowledge of the disease and the body

studies have shown that people in crisis can die within mins.

I had covid which immediately sent me into crisis. Got blue lighted to A and E and was left. For 6 hours. No fluids. No treatment. The treatment for a crisis is a simple steroid injection and then fluids. Fortunately I know my stuff and had I of not I would of been dead

i complained and they acknowledged it all but I could of died.

it’s frightening how manny of us this is happening too and because it’s so rare there isn’t that many of us to start with!!!

I’d be chasing.
I had a problem with my eye that needed an urgent referral on the advice of my optician. I was seen at the hospital the same afternoon and operated on, the following day. Waiting would have cost me my vision.

I’ve also got a friend who’s been urgently referred for a hysterectomy. The wait is 52 weeks. She has had multiple spells in hospital due to bleeding and pain and cannot work. Hopefully she will not lose her job whilst she is waiting!

I was referred to Moorfields Eye Hospital under the 2ww before covid (the local eye dept consultant laughed and said she had no idea what was wrong with eye as she had never seen it before, so really put me at ease!) and it still took over a month to get seen, the NHS has been broken for a long time, but Covid has just made it worse

My father has macular odeama which he should receive treatment for once every 6 to 12 weeks depending on how severe it is at the time. Unfortunately the treatment is known to trigger glaucoma eventually and this has now happened. His last three appointments have been cancelled and he is 9 weeks overdue an injection.......

I work for the nhs it's awful but unfortunately fairly standard across lots of different NHS trusts
The only way to be seen quicker is to pay to go privately

I have had to go private for an operation. Either that or spend the best part of a year's wait necking high grade analgesia and risking addiction. Luckily I have the savings for it - but not for long.

That letter is beyond depressing - I really would go back to your MP.

When needed eye referrals are quick - dp had surgery within 24 hours a few weeks ago (detached retina) whereas other conditions are not urgent, I suspect they are getting lots of referrals from high street opticians offering these scans!

I meant to say GP, but perhaps MP might be more appropriate.

I would complain about that. I’d even go so far as to say he should see a medical negligence solicitor and I have never said that in my life. His life has now been changed forever due to someone not phoning or seeing him. This is a real problem.

my old next door neighbour had something similar. He was very young. In his 20’s and had back pain. To be fair the dr thought it was routine back pain. Sadly it was spine cancer and he died some 6 months after he made the original appointment. He would of been another one but he died before nearly anything could of been done. He was diagnosed privately too.

my Addison’s disease was diagnosed privately. Oh drs we’re so horrible to me. Telling me I wasn’t dying. Trying to take me off medication. It’s been awful.

Yes, they are still blaming covid because covid is the reason that staff are off sick.

I'm consistently surprised at how different the NHS is in England than in Scotland. I had a referral from my optician not for an emergency appointment. Within 6 weeks, I'd been seen at the hospital.
Go back to your optician OP. Either your appointment is urgent - in which case it should have been prioritised and the optician can flag it and escalate it. Or it isn't - in which case they need to reassure you concerning the timescales.

I need a re-referral for an MRI as I panicked during my first one due to claustrophobia. I'm willing to pay but the private clinic I found need a referral from a consultant.

I cannot get in touch with anyone to do this at all. Emails go unanswered. Phone calls ring out. Messages left aren't responded to.

It's not right. I've been trying for two months now.

@DaisyQuakeJohnson

It's quick in England too if needed, dp was seen the same day and had surgery the following day - but it is a medical emergency and will bump others down the list/send home

@worriedaboutmoney2022 serious question. If delays in the NHS are due to Covid, why aren't there similar delays in private hospitals. Same consultants working in both.