About this time last year, my mum started the process of getting on the waiting list for a hip replacement. She had X-rays (NHS) on the 23rd December last year.
We were then told 18 months - 2 years wait at least and decided to explore private options. She had a consultation with a private surgeon at the end of April - he at that point wrote to her GP with his recommendations and copied her in. She had her surgery (private) a month ago. She was discharged with another letter and print out of medication which I hand-delivered to the GP and which the receptionist stickered with mum's number. Since then she has been back to see the nurse (NHS) to have a dressing checked, and has had two phone calls from the physio, based at the nearest NHS hospital.
So why has she just had a letter from the NHS hospital inviting her to an appointment in September to discuss going on the waiting list for a hip replacement? (which she had a month ago, which we told them about in April, and after which she has seen her GP, the nurse practitioner and a NHS physio).
A minor irritation and anecdote for one family but what a waste of admin time and resources.