To think patients on long NHS wait lists should be given information of roughly where they are on the list and how long a waiting likely

[ektvevkt]

It’s bad enough waiting far too long but being given zero info re how long that wait is likely to be means you can’t plan re treatment/ diagnosis alternatives or life generally.

If you ring they will tell you where you are on the list and the current wait times

Our gp surgery can see the wait times of all major depts within our city

Might be worth ringing either the consultants secretary or the medical secretary but your GP practice. At my practice the med sec has an idea of how long waiting lists are and can sometimes see appointments before patients have received a letter. No guarantee but worth a try.

I get what you mean, but to be honest people may be moved up a waiting list if their situation is more fatal than someone else's. So you're actually always shifting slightly up or down depending on how they triage your case. Further to this tax payer would have to fund a waiting list Communications manager to facilitate it. This means less money for actually treating patients.

I get there will be movement however a vague idea must be possible and it wouldn’t take a full time worker to facilitate it. There is software for everything.

DD was referred for ADHD assessment and got a letter in Feb 23 saying 'you were referred to us in November 22, we are currently seeing patients referred in December 19'.

You can check here
myplannedcare.nhs.uk. You can keep filtering down until you get to the speciality that you've been referred to. We give this link to all patients that we do a referral for at the Surgery I work at.

Nope they don’t. They are refusing to give any info at all and I think that’s actually pretty shit.

I’ve contacted the manger of the department we’re waiting for. Blank refusal to give any info.

Yeah I’ve been waiting nearly a year for an appointment at the recurrent miscarriage clinic. I’ve spoken to a nurse, the secretaries, booking services… they won’t tell you how long the wait is. And to make it worse zero empathy for what is obviously a stressful wait because of the sensitive nature of the clinic.

If you get pregnant again in the meantime they will see you for extra scans starting at 7 weeks. I keep getting told “to be honest we are seeing people when they are pregnant again sooner than the referral appointment” which is not helpful at all

Yep zero empathy too.

I don’t think it’s ok.People are waiting far too long for things and the NHS needs to start realising people need to plan.

thats great but only helps so much. For my hospital you get linked to “gynaecology” which gives the wait time of 18-20 weeks for your first appointment but that’s so vague

Currently fighting the system to find out where the hell my child is referred to. No one had any idea which hospital within the trust. Then which consultant. Now their sec is off long term sick and no one can give any info.

Every 3 months I get a text saying we are on a list and do we want referring elsewhere. Don't even say which department it is which is shit when dealing with multiple issue. And you don't want referring elsewhere when you've no idea how long the wait will be and you're waiting foe the best person. Urgh.

Exactly this. It just isn’t good enough.

What sort of wait lists.

I've been referred to neurology and was told waiting list was about a year to 18 months.

Got a text from Gp to say referral accepted.

3 days later got an apt - for 7 months time (🫣).

Ds referred to wheelchair services and told approx 6 weeks wait. Heard nothing so rang after 8 weeks and now know referral hasn't gone through so to ring consultants Secretary up to inquire about problem.

Yes it's long winded and complicated but you are given an approx wait time (which lets be honest is ridiculously long)

DD got told 2 year wait for gynaecology not long ago
I have just been referred to neurology and told it won’t be before summer 2026 similar wait for rheumatology, colorectal surgery over a year
In my local area eye appointments are very quick compared to other parts of country

If you happen to be in Northern Ireland OP there is a website for checking waiting times if you search under trust and speciality

https://online.hscni.net/my-waiting-times-ni/

Only if your treatment is at a hospital in England.

Not even for all of them - my local hospital just says "info not available" for every area listed.

This can’t be right because if you had a middling non-urgent complaint (but still a valid reason to see a consultant) there’ll always be more urgent cases and you’d be on the list forever, surely? 🤷🏻‍♀️

The website for my nearest hospital states average waiting times for each department

I totally agree.

Generally, I find they do give you a fairly accurate estimation. But services vary. One of my kids is under NHS speech and language services, they refuse to give any estimates, to the point where if you phone them there is a very severe recorded message saying they will not answer any questions about waiting lists.

The NHS is on its fucking knees, barely coping from one day to the next, and yet you think it needs to realise that people need to plan their lives?
You really don't think they know how shit it is for patients?
You really think they are there to not try and get through waiting lists, and that if it was possible, they could crystal-ball gaze and tell you how many emergencies have caused your op to slip down the list, or how many people have deteriorated quickly, so have to be dealt with as an emergency?
There is a programne about doctors in Cardiff hospital on at the moment. For each surgeon, they show how long the waiting list is for that speciality. Gynae was around 4,000 pts.
Years of underfunding and abuse of the health service has bought us to this