Wait time for 'urgent' NHS referral

[twodoorsup]

Posting here for traffic.

What has been your experience with wait time for an 'urgent' referral to a specialist by your GP? I have been told by my GP a few months which doesn't seem urgent & given symptoms feel it should be a bit faster (it's gyne related FYI) but I am well aware of the backlog etc. So just wanting to know what other's wait times have been like? Thanks

Liverpool. I was seen eventually after 8 weeks, only because I made a nuisance of myself. I’m post-menopausal and had been in A&E three times with haemorrhaging over that time.

Thanks, but I’ve discharged myself now. Was impossible to keep up with the trips.

My urgent referral for gynae was made in November 2022 by may I'd seen consultant and had mri. Got results in November referred to a specialist consultant in December as she couldn't touch me. Had an internal scan in march and dont see new consultant til July.

I think gynecology is particularly bad. I had an urgent referral for cysts in combination with ca125 of over 100 rejected (reason - there are non cancerous conditions which push it up). I then had to go private and was put back on the NHS urgent pathway. I needed 'urgent' survey to remove large cysts as the consultant couldn't rule out if was ovarian cancer based on an MRI scan alone and that took a year. It was a benign condition, thank god but since then, nothing is shocking me anymore.

I had suspected cancer earlier this Year and waited no longer than 2 weeks for both my endoscopy and then CT Scan so within the limits.
Specialist however was/is all over the place.

I was told first off I would see Her on April 28th . Cancelled.
Then it was some time in November. Cancelled
Currently I am looking at January 2025ish

It may be because the tumours they found are all benign though to be honest.
I have had cancer before so they are always on top of getting me seen. Cannot fault that,

Oh I should add that my problems were in the Duodenum area so digestive?

The previous cancer I had was skin.

My sympathies! DH saw the cardiologist yesterday after a six month wait for an ‘urgent’ referral and has been put on the list for a procedure.. another six month wait.

Gynae said to me they had one of the longest waiting lists
They sent me to spire but they can't operate as it needs a bowel surgeon. But for the whole of the NW I think there is 3 specialist centres for endo

I’m in NI. I had an urgent respiratory referral in January which is a ten month wait.

DS had an urgent ENT referral last year. He had an appointment for a phone call from consultant in January and she said he needed seen asap but could be 8 weeks. Fair enough.
Except no appointment came. I phoned as he was getting worse and was told that he counts as being seen on target due to his phone call. What he’s waiting for is classed as an 8 week review (though no one has set eyes on him) and they are currently doing appointments for people due their 8 week review in December 2022!!

Well, this won’t help:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-69072640

JD strikes were very quickly sorted in Scotland - it's fully square on Sunak's shoulders that not resolved in England

My DDad is having tests at the moment as he has suspected pancreatic cancer.

So far it has been 2 weeks after blood test to be sent for a CT scan, another 2 weeks wait for those results (towards the end of that wait a locum at the GPs said that it was cancer in passing) nothing either way back from the hospital yet. Now he has an endoscopy. We were told it would be a 4 to 6 wait for that.

So it could be 2 - 3 months from going to the GP with jaundice before he knows for certain what is going on.

2 week path way then put on the urgent list for an op...that was 16 months ago.

Over a year. I went private and still have to wait two months!

I've been on a urgent waiting list since last September and although I've had a telephone consultation I'm still waiting for an actual date for surgery

I was on the cancer pathway last year. It was ten days but they used a new system to get everyone in which involved nursing staff taking photos and sending them immediately to consultants. I think one looks, if uncertain it goes to another. I thought I was home free, but I got an urgent call back. Everything was removed pretty quickly - I think 6 weeks or so. My GP asked if I took the photos (as if).

My DH was unconvinced but it was a quick efficient system ensuring all were seen in the time frame and accurately diagnosed. Dermatology Dept.

It recurred and I was told I would have to wait 8 months by the GP but again I was seen in less than 2 weeks and op done in no time. I am a bit tired of getting bits chopped off but my treatment has been good.

Longer wait for gynae - I believe it is 39 weeks.

I had the same with a dermatologist appt, worked really well and meant I started treatment within a week.

Recently my son was referred under the 2 week pathway and his appointment was exactly two weeks later. He's a child though, so it might be a different waiting time for an adult

He needs sedation. A quick sedation, in a chair with us standing next to him.

I'm 4 possibly 5 at this point months into an urgent gyno wait.

I recently got diagnosed with cancer, but privately as the GP kept saying I was anxious about nothing, so not sure how the 2 week pathway is in my local area.

I have a gynae referral for post-menopausal bleeding. GP said there's a 2 wk turnaround. (That's what happened when I referred 2 wks ago.)

After 6 wks this time, no appointment. Phoned. "At least 16 wks for PMB. More than that since you've asked to see a woman doctor." (The reason is that the male doctor hurt me last time round.)

Your GP may well be right. Many trusts are not even managing to reliably hit the 2 week wait target for suspected cancer. So, if it is urgent (but not suspected cancer), your wait may well be in the months, not weeks, if the trust I work for (and the others near us) are anything to go by. I don’t think it’s a situation anybody thinks is right, but we are where we are.

By way of example, in our area post-menopausal bleeding clinic currently has a 22 week wait, urgent gynae is 3-4 months (some are seen quicker as all referrals are triaged at time of referral).

I was sent urgently by the dentist in the September and was seen the end of Jan.

This was in 2021 like so things were a bit weird anyway.

Labour has said they will clear the backlog and get NHS back on track within 5 years.
This is the position the NHS was in the last time the Conservatives were voted out. It is what the Conservatives do. Try and destroy the NHS.

Urgent referral for months of abdominal pain and irregular bleeding, which was eventually identified by ultrasound to be a golf ball sized 'entity' inside my cervix - GP couldnt be sure what it was and said cancer unlikely but not ruled out. 54 weeks wait list for a gynae referral (I confirmed that was actually for an urgent referral and they confirmed it was).

I went private and had an op to remove a few weeks ago. I genuinely would have not known what to do if I'd had to wait over a year just to see someone. I feel incredibly lucky to have insurance through my employer, but if I'd had to take out a bank loan I think I would have.