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

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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.

It's rubbish OP. Whilst I appreciate general health comes first, secondary referrals in dentistry are pretty shocking just now as well.
Two recent stories. A little girl of three requires removal of all her deciduous teeth due to rampant caries, and is suffering recurrent abscesses. Multiple antibiotics required. Local dental hospital saying at least a year til she can be seen.
Meanwhile her nursery have reported the mum to social services for neglect, because she's suffering, and they think mum hasn't taken the child to the dentist. ( ok, the rampant caries not good, but mum has been constantly in touch with her dentist)

Another case, possible oral cancer. Was referred by dentist to hospital in January 2020. Case slipped through the net. Pt terrified of Covid and barely left house in two years. Meanwhile condition getting worse, snd is still untreated.

I would find out from your opthalmologist whether there is an eye 'A&E' near you and whether you should go. Eye stuff is often seen within hours. I was sent straight there by my GP when I suddenly got a lot of floaters. That can be a sign of detached retina which needs operating on asap, so there was no wait at all. Co-incidentally, my daughter had an issue yesterday, and again was seen (though by video call) by an eye consultant within hours of reporting her problem to a GP.

The nhs is terrible these days it's getting dangerous I was given a 2 week wait for a cencer referral it took 3 months and that was with me ringing and chasing and even pals getting involved.

OP I would definitely go back to Optician and explain what's happened to see if they could expedite matters

My DD was referred (admittedly pre covid ) for an eye issue - optician said he needed to be seen within the week otherwise he could lose his sight - he was seen at local hospital eye dept 2 days later and within a week was having an eye injection (which he is still having 3 + years later)

I could have written your post a few weeks ago for my nan. Saw the optician after her vision changed as advised by her specialist, optician did what I now know was an urgent referral for age related wet macular degeneration. Her appointment was 7 weeks later only to be told nothing to be done for the eye now as it should have been looked at urgently. She could have potentially had injections to slow the process but now has only 5% vision. We are in the middle of an investigation.

Please go back to the optician and ask them to push this.

Actually a mouth full of rotten teeth at three years old is a massive big red flag in the safeguarding world. Even though the mother has sought treatment the fact that the child has gross generalised caries points to poor diet and oral care. Dentists don’t do a concierge service to come out and brush your child’s teeth every night or check the amount of sugar intake. However they can advise on care.
It is also the job of the dentist to report to the safeguarding team, it’s often a difficult decision to make, and they are asked to comment on ongoing cases.
Parents take their children to the dentist in theses cases not because of concern about their dental health but because the child keeps them awake at night due to the awful pain they experience.
Neglect is a big red flag after some of the recent safeguarding cases. It often goes hand in hand with abuse so a child with a neglected mouth is a big red flag. The teeth don’t decay all by themselves. And as a dentist I can assure you that we rarely see these children until they are in pain. The damage has already been done, we can educate the parent going forward but we can’t fix what’s already decayed at that age.

@Angrymum22 aren't there some patterns of genetic decay in infants though? My first teeth came through looking decayed. No neglect or poor diet.

I had quite strong antibiotics when 20 weeks pg and 4 of dd's molars (top and bottom 2nd in I think came through with very little enamel and had to be removed when she was about 4.5.

It was bad before covid. My relative was struggling with severe back pain after an accident , had been to a&e numerous times, his GP etc etc and was waiting and waiting for an MRI. This was 2019
He died age 33 because he took someone else's medication as he couldn't bear the pain any more

That could have be me 2 years earlier but I developed cauda equina and was lucky

I saw my optician (not a high street chain) last summer for a problem I was having with my contact lenses, he investigated and felt there were issues that needed to be dealt with by a consultant and referred me directly to the local hospital's emergency eye clinic. An NHS referral. I was seen within a week - it turned out I needed surgery. I was put straight on the list and had the operation a few weeks later. So it can happen. I'm convinced the difference was seeing an optician who wasn't one of the big high street chains (I've never felt confident that they go the extra mile, rightly or wrongly) and he knew who to refer me to. I'm very glad he did, as (touch wood) the treatment I've had will prevent my sight being lost completely.

I don't know whether it might be worth going to an independent optician and see if that'd make a difference...?

Also re the oral cancer. Cancer services have been operating as normal throughout the pandemic. I can attest to that. I had breast cancer and the 2wk wait is operating well. Some delays during diagnosis are inevitable when so many NHS staff had to self isolated after Covid contacts.
Anyone who sits on their hands and doesn’t chase up a referral only has themselves to blame.
Again if the lady in question refuses to leave her home how can the NHS be to blame.
All referrals are electronic now and a quick call to her dentist and they can check on the progress of referral. If it is a 2wk referral you will probably find the dentist will chase it up personally.
There are long waits currently but not for cancer services.

@RosesAndHellebores yy there are. I had issues with my teeth when a baby and DS had the same. Sadly there are some dentists who prefer to jump to blame parents and don't check the child's or family history.

Just to balance the thread
My Dad was diagnosed with cancer about 18 months ago. It became terminal and sadly he recently died. He treatment by the NHS was flawless. I don't believe they could have done anything better than they did. From a practical point of view everything was done quickly and was well organized and from a caring point of view he was treated kindly by everyone. The palliative care he received was exactly right for him. Knowing that he had been taken care of so well has helped our family deal with his death.

I know that lots and lots of people have to wait far to long to be seen though. I was meant to see a consultant about something and the waiting list was over a year. I was fortunate in that I could go private. I know lots of people get poor care and that the NHS is on its knees but It's not all bad.

I would argue that it has been dire for a long time, possibly always for some specialties. In my corner of Scotland anyway. 5 years ago I developed sepsis due to a hitherto undiscovered misbehaving gall bladder. I also had pancreatitis. Once I had recovered from that, thanks entirely to a group of very new junior doctors and no thanks at all to the registrar who was in charge, I asked when I could have my gall bladder out as it was a continuing problem. The answer? Not until you have become acutely ill twice more. Bearing in mind that sepsis kills between one in five and one in 10 patients who get it I was appalled. Long story short I clawed together the money to get it done privately. This should not happen in a 'civilised' society and this is just one of the examples I can think of going back many years.

I don’t live in the UK anymore, this is so sad to read.

if the NHS is basically going to become a healthcare service for accidents and emergencies, and for those who can’t afford to pay for private health insurance, whichever government of succession of governments need to tell the public so.

it’s seems like the British public are being left to figure it out for themselves; go through these experiences to work out whether they should/shouldn’t go private; work out how the NHS and the private sector work with each other. It just sounds ridiculous.

the public should be told, clearly, that by (say) 2030 all the money will have run out and people will need to budget for healthcare. Those who can afford it might go private early; others may never be able to afford it. But a clear path is required.

Covid is just an excuse. The system is rotten at its core, what with the chronic and inflated middle mis-management.

I think there's a high chance the NHS will fail in the next 10 years and we will have to look at another model of care. I've paid privately for medical care and gone abroad not really because I could afford it but because I only have one body OP you only have one set of eyes go private don't wait for them sadly I don't think the NHS is fit for purpose and certainly can't be relied on for diagnostic or non urgent surgery in 2022.

I'm glad that's the case. There's consistently threads on here about waiting times and lack of appointments that bear no resemblance to the reality of wait times and referral processes here.

It always strikes me as odd that posters tell dire stories about referral processes that make no sense and then they segue into saying we should lose the NHS. As though they don't realise the situation would be a million times worst with a US private healthcare system. If they want to pay for private healthcare then they can do that currently. There's no need to try to campaign against the NHS so everyone else misses out. In fact if everyone complaining about it switched to using private healthcare, it would free up space for those of us who do believe in the NHS.

The government is letting people work it for themselves I've pay for a private remote GP service as getting an appointment has been a nightmare. The problem is the NHS was never designed for the massive advances in healthcare people are living for much longer with different conditions. The last 10 years of people's lives normally is marked by extreme poor health , it's very expensive to treat.

Yes there are but they are quite rare. Hyperplasia is common but not in the baby teeth. When it does occur the enamel looks decayed and wears heavily but doesn’t tend to cause a lot of pain. Caries, on the other hand creates food traps and infection.
I would think the nursery have other concerns as well. Neglect can be a real problem in all types of household. I have seen two cases, in one the parents were drug users and dealers, the children were well behaved and dressed but were emaciated. The other case was a yummy mummy who had weight issues and resented giving up her career to be a SAHM, again the children were underfed and had behavioural problems, mainly attachment disorder due to mothers flaky attitude to parenting.
Unfortunately for many children staying with their parents is a better option than being taken in to care.
I have to do safeguarding courses regularly for both children an adults. They are probably the hardest ones to attend.

There just isn't the option of a USA system , Australia have a mixed very efficient system as do Germany and Singapore. We can't go on the way we are going. The NHS wasn't designed for it.

If you are really worried about your eyes I recommend going to an eye casualty, Moorfields in London if you can get there. Eye conditions need to be treated quickly

Exactly so. Why everybody jumps from as we are to a US system I will never know. There are so many other, better systems out there which we could emulate. We need a Royal Commission to explore the options and point us in the right direction and I include all 4 constituent parts of the UK in that. At the moment, where I am the GP service is non existant, the wait for 'non urgent' orthopaedics is 4 years, the mental health service has collapsed and out local so called walk in service suddenly doesn't exist any more*. Nevertheless we are constantly told that we are doing better than England. I rather doubt it.
*Literally. There is one locum Psychiatrist for the entire area, my DD waited 15 months for a follow up phone call and my severely bipolar best friend has been cast adrift to cope on her own with no support.

Because private hospitals aren’t trying to work through a two year back log of cases. The NHS has been severely underfunded and understaffed for many years, Covid has shown up the deficit.

If you read any articles about the government's approach to healthcare and about the US companies circling for contracts then you'd know why people jump to the US comparison. This Goverment and its funders and friends are only looking to the US.
I don't believe anyone is naive enough to think this government would try to improve the NHS when they have taken every opportunity to undermine it and divert funds, through multimillion pound Covid contracts, to their friends.

It’s not better in Scotland. Something like 30% of cancers are now being diagnosed at A&E when patients hit crisis point.