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

It depends what it's for. Ny last referral was on the two-week cancer pathway which is different from other referrals. I saw the GP one day and had a phone call from the hospital the same day to arrange an appointment ASAP. I think I saw the consultant and had all the scans about 10 days after I saw the GP.

Prior to that, I had a referral for something that wasn't suspected to be cancer, but did need to be checked out and was put through as urgent. That took about three months I think. That was a couple of years ago, though.

I’ve been awaiting an urgent neurology referral (possible MS) since July 2023 and an urgent ENT referral (13 bouts of quinsy) since October 2017. Good old NHS.

Waiting for heart surgery in the south east - urgent is six months here.

I saw a GP last Friday and he referred me for an abdominal scan, I’ve lost loads of weight in the last month and feel unwell. Got a call on the Monday and in the next day for scan. So I only had to wait a weekend. I was amazed.

no clue op but having just spent 17 hrs waiting to see a doctor in a and e i have given up all hope of the Nhs ever being able to perform properly again.Its an utter shambles and not fit for purpose in my view. Last night I needed an ambulance they told me, it would take 4 hrs to get to me a mile away from our hospital so they sent me and paid for a taxi on their account so I could be seen and get my pain managed this was one ibruprophen and 17 hes in a waiting room. Sorry to derail but shocking.

Sorry you're poorly . I think sending taxi is ok if you just need transport and you aren't having a heart attack or similar.

I do, too. If I was able to walk and didn't think I needed immediate treatment, I'd try and get a lift from a friend or get myself a taxi.

Mind you, it was £36 to get a taxi back from hospital last time I was there, so I might resent the cost slightly.

They want to do that by offering overtime for existing staff to work evenings/weekends. Not sure that will work to be honest. Staff in the NHS already work long hours, I can't see them wanting to do more.

Then they will recruit more staff. There are plenty of nurses graduating this year who can't get jobs.

That must depend on area. My local hospital has hundreds of nurse vacancies. It’s so bad they don’t even interview them anymore. If you have a pin you have a job. And of course they reckon as many people are leaving as starting their careers.

And don’t get me started on the massive drop in numbers for nursing and midwifery degree applications, they’ve fallen off a cliff this year.

Have they said where the money is going to come from to pay for all the new staff?

@CormorantStrikesBack is that current? Trusts recruited from abroad and were so successful that there are not enough vacancies for all the nurses graduating this year. As a result most hospitals have freezes on nurse recruitment.

All the labour proposals are fully costed.

They can use the wages of people who have left, it’s like a revolving door. New nurses doesn’t mean more nurses. Bit like the 40 new hospitals they keep bleating on about.

Yes, very current in my two local trusts.

I am sorry for your friend and daughter, its abso shocking isn't it!

I am due "urgent" surgery as they decided my ovarian cyst was infact and abcess. The call from my consultant to tell me it was urgent was Dec 2021 ... finally have my appointment on 29th July this year

If it's cancer pathway then normal waiting times don't apply. I have a non urgent appt & mine is around 12 weeks (nhs app said could be longer) .
My breast lump appt with breast clinic was quick, just over 2 weeks, that one was cancer pathway.

Depends what your GP has put on the referral and the reason why ‘urgent.’
The Gp won’t know how the service works and what they deem and see as urgent.

My GP referred me as ‘urgent’ but when I was eventually seen by the gynae team the information on the referral was lacking and half my medical history hadn’t even been mentioned. No wonder I had to wait 12 months. (I’m a Nurse by the way). Thankfully all was ok

I’m still waiting on an “urgent” referral from 56 weeks + ago…that’s gynae too
don’t hold your breath

My urgent gynae referral wait was 14 months to get a phone call from a Consultant. She said they needed to see me, so another two months wait for that. Then they gave me an appointment with a male, despite the initial letter from my GP explaining why this was not possible. So now I'm waiting again.

There's urgent and then there's 2 week pathway urgent. I had an urgent referral to a gastro and I received the booking within a couple weeks, but it was about 4 months to the appointment. This was for IBD investigations, no suspected cancer.

To be fair, when he actually saw me, there were some unusual things in my most recent blood results that combined with a couple other things DID signal potential cancer. I was booked in for a CT scan and a colonoscopy and a follow up appointment all within the span of 2 weeks. It wasn't cancer, just lots of things breaking at once, but the response was very quick once everything flagged up.

This is all really worrying isn't it. The word urgent doesn't seem to have any significance any more. Also the "2 week wait" is just for diagnosis... I wonder how long it is until the problem actually gets dealt with/operated on etc...??
I really hope whoever gets in power next does something radical to improve things...

I didn't have an urgent gynaw referral, but I was referred to gynae and seen after two months on a Sunday of all days! Put on a waiting list for surgery, that's a whole other kettle of fish 🤣 but was surprised at how quick I was seen, I was expecting to wait a year for an appointment to be honest.

I was referred to Gynae under the 2WW just before Covid hit. They decided I needed an urgent hysteroscopy, removal of polyps and fibroids under GA. I had to wait 15mths for that before they did it in a private hospital.

I had an urgent referral to cardiology, that was 10mth wait.

I was sent for an urgent referral to a rheumatologist in January, my appointment is the middle of August.

I saw the ophthalmologist in March who wanted me to have some tests ASAP, they sent the appointment for October.

I worked in the NHS in the late eighties/early nineties and it was common that you waited 12-18mths for your appointment, then 2-3yrs for your operation. Then Labour got in and it changed for the better, now look where we are. It’s a disgrace.

In my case;

• 26th April last year I had a pre treatment change chest X-ray on;
• 28th April got a phone call from GP warning me radiologist had been in touch with surgery to request I be put on 2WW for possible lung cancer and he wanted to warn me that I’d be getting a call from the hospital to arrange a CT scan the following week
• 2nd May hot phone call, CT booked for 4th May
• 10th May saw consultant for results and further tests
• 30th May saw cardiothoracic consultant for explanation of next step (surgery to remove mass found in chest wall)
• 16th June had surgery.

So, in total, 6 weeks and 2 days from X-ray to major surgery!!