The wait for NHS test results is cruel and anxiety inducing

[Summortime]

I had a routine NHS mammogram a week ago. Was told up to three weeks wait for the result. I cannot believe this is considered acceptable. In USA for example you can get the result within the next couple of days. My American colleague was shocked that here in the UK we are just expected to wait.

My anxiety is sky high. I appreciate this is a problem I need to get help with but if results were given in days rather than weeks my anxiety would not be so bad. It is the waiting that’s the worst.

How in a so called first world country is a long wait for test results considered acceptable?

And if you lost your job and could no longer go private you’ve still got the nhs. What would your American colleague have? One thing absolutely no-one in the UK ever has to worry about is how to pay for their treatment if they lose their job. Health care bills are the biggest cause of bankruptcy in America, I’d imagine it’s zero here.

My breast cancer was found on a routine mammogram and believe me they get you back sharpish when they find something! I was recalled , re-mammogramed , biopsied and diagnosed within a week ! The care I’ve had under the NHS has been outstanding and I’m so grateful to everyone involved in my care !
While you are waiting for your result please see you gp about your anxiety! This level of anxiety over a routine screening scan is not normal and you sound like you’re spiralling!!

It was around 300 - not thousand - when I went to the Spire Edinburgh at the end of May and the result was the same day.

To be clear: this post isn't intended to be goady, before anyone accuses me. I'm genuinely curious about this.

I had a mammogram recently and also waited 3 weeks for results. I ididn't particularly mind, since I had no concerns at that point (mobile unit in ASDA carpark).

About 3 weeks ago I found a small lump and my GP (excellent practice - no complaints) referred me. I was sent by Hemel Hempstead hospital to a private hospital (as an NHS patient) for further investigation.

Oh my goodness. What an experience. I was greeted by smiling staff, given clear instructions as to where to wait, where I was again greeted by a nurse who told me exactly what would happen and reassured me she'd come and get me. I saw a consultant who was very polite, then was asked to wait for an ultrasound, again, reassured by staff that I'd be told when to go in. The ultrasound was done and staff told me exactly what to do and where to go.

No stress, no wondering if I'm waiting in the right place, no being a bit scared to ask the fierce-looking member of staff anything, no being left on my own feeling uncertain of what's going on.

But oddly, the thing that struck me was the calm atmosphere...created by the lack of rubbish all over every wall. There were NO notices, tatty posters, handwritten messages, scary pictures of melanomas etc all flapping around everywhere you look. This alone made a huge difference to me!

They got rid of me in under an hour.

I genuinely want to know: what were they doing that the NHS can't? There were no more nurses/staff members around than in my local hospitals, but they were more focused on patient care - often staff seem wrapped up in personal conversations and other things. It was really quiet except for staff/patient interaction. And why not have a one-stop-shop? See the consultant (5 mins) then be sent for the relevant test (10 mins) then go home? In the NHS, you get letters, appointments, letters, appointments galore before you get to the actual tests/scans. There's such a proliferation of appointments etc. When I had a skin cancer removed, I think I went to 4 appointments before the op. Why?? How does this cost less?

Because the consultant who referred me hasn't looked at it yet I guess. GP can't help as it wasn't them who referred me. I did chase about a month ago and they just basically said there's a back log and you have to keep waiting. I have no follow up appointment booked, I assume I'll get a letter through saying all ok at some point but who knows. It's crap.

Breastscreening results are not on the NHS Appt as yet. We are undergoing a pilot in December.

Your “American Friend” still pays, it just means her salary package overall has health coverage (which many people in the U.K. also have)

Good luck finding a healthcare insurance which gives you any level of care, no matter what your age, lifestyle, pre-existing conditions, without having to pay a deductible or co-pay, for the amount of tax you pay, and one which covers you whether you are working or not, for the amount of tax that goes in to the NHS. 30 million people in the US have no health coverage, 43% of working age adults in the US are under-insured. Even those who are insures will find their policy doesn’t cover their needs. Should your “American Friend” require treatment arising from her mammogram, a stage 1 cancer will cost her insurance company around $150k for the first year of treatment. Even with the employer’s insurance, her co-pay will be almost $6k. She will have to pay separately for MH or physical therapy she needs, each costing around $150 per session. She won’t get anything towards a wig either.

Incidentally, according to the “mirror, mirror” report in 2024 by the Commonwealth fund, the US spends 3 times as much per capita in healthcare (largely directly funded by citizens, not by the government) and yet has the lowest health outcomes of the Countries in the study. UK is 3rd.

NHS is not perfect. The current situation is pretty bad with waiting times, but if you think the US system is better, you are deluding yourself.

Also worth noting, results aren’t given out on a first come first served basis. Your mammogram scans will have a first level assessment by the radiology team and if there is something immediately apparent that needs a review, it is put to the top of the list and your results would come sooner.

If it is any help my friend had a mammogram and they phoned her the next day to say they had found something suspicious. Biopsy was two days later. When I last had a mammogram I asked whether this was standard. Whether you had to wait for the results by letter and she said no that you would be phoned pretty quickly. So I always think no news is good news.

I got mine back quite quickly. It wasn't 3 weeks. Isn't it up to 3 weeks?

The experience you had was similar to how I found my local city hospital when my mammogram came back with a problem

apart from the carpark- which had ladies coming in in tears and the nurses literally soothing them and reassuring them as they were so stressed about being late.

a nurse held my hand whilst another did the investigation and I was so well looked after,

I really think it depends on the department and ethos of the people working in that place.

With a standard mammogram it does take a couple of weeks,

But, when I had a lump, I saw the consultant, had a mammogram and got the results when I went back to the consultant after an hour.

During Covid.

All was ok, but unless you’ve raised any issues, this test is just routine.

Apologies for going off at a tangent but it is truly horrific that we treat people like this. We do not get our health care for free; we simply pay for it in a different manner from the Americans. The sooner people wake up to the enormous waste of money that is the NHS, the better.
You wouldn’t tolerate an insurance company or a plumber keeping you hanging on. The NHS needs to be held to account for its appalling treatment of patients.

@CoffeeCantata

We apparently have
The "one stop diagnostic centre" in Royton is officially called the Oldham Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC), located at Salmon Fields, Royton, OL2 6JG. It is an out-of-hospital facility that offers a range of diagnostic tests, including imaging (X-rays, MRIs), heart and lung tests, and blood tests. Patients must be referred by a GP or other healthcare professional to use the centre, which aims to provide quicker diagnoses in a more convenient location than a hospital.

I think our mammogram service has a good turnaround of less than a fortnight.

Actually if you've got good health insurance....

And if you haven't?

It's a routine screening test. Why is your anxiety about it so high? It's about managing resource. You aren't a high priority because they don't have any reason to think something is wrong.

I had a breast lump recently. The service was incredibly efficient. Arrived for my appointment and saw the consultant, on time, who examined me and sent me to the clinic next door for mammogram and ultrasound. I waited about 20 minutes for the mammogram and then about 15 more minutes for the ultrasound. By this time the mammogram has been reviewed and the ultrasound backed up the diagnosis to that the lump has a number of cysts. The cysts were drained there and then and I went on my way. I was in and out in less than 90 minutes.

When resource is limited it needs to be used efficiently. It's not cruel. It saves lives.

You did not base your comment to another poster on the basis of averages you stated that they specifically would not pay in as much as they took out. A statement that had no basis in the absence of you knowing what they had paid in.

OP I mean this kindly, you need help. Another family member had a breakdown waiting for test results. This is unhinged behaviour and a sign of the times sadly. It was a routine test and if you don't like the wait then go private. NI goes on more than just the NHS. Monthly deductions from your wages are a drop in the ocean in comparison to the thousands spent elsewhere in the world.

"free" 😂😂😂
It's not free - it is an incredibly expensive and inefficient health service on it's knees due to neglect, complacency and managerial failure.

Often staff seem wrapped up in personal conversations

Yep. That’s the NHS for you, over staffed by people who have time just to stand around chatting, then become ogres when you speak to them.

To answer your question, what private hospitals do that the NHS doesn’t, is cherry pick its customers. It doesn’t have to treat anyone with complex health conditions. It will screen out those who are the sickest by refusing coverage. They only treat wealthy, educated people (largely) because those are the people who can afford care. The health outcomes of those people are statistically better, leading to a lower risk of problems and better outcomes. They don’t have to have “scary pictures” on the wall because they don’t have to be invested in their patients’ future health. They don’t care if you miss that little mole and it turns into a scary melanoma because they get paid to remove it and treat it. And that minor lump you had dealt with so quickly would see your insurance premiums jump next year, assuming it wasn’t too much. If it turned into something worse, they’d refuse coverage in the future or make it ruinously expensive.

Private healthcare has its place. I’ve used it and would again. Environments generally are nicer, the process is generally quicker, the NHS could probably pick up a thing or two from them. But it’s wrong to suggest they are in the same business as the NHS and are doing better than them.

Fair point, although, to be sure, Obamacare vastly increased the number of Americans who do have health insurance. I think the overall number is about 90% these days. (And of course Obama had the right wingers screaming that he was creating the slippery slope to communism.)

@boredzelda indeed but the one thing they do get right is the tone with which all staff speak to people and the fact that the NHS eyeroll if one dares ask for information appears to have been banned.

When there was an issue with my routine mammogram I was given a follow up appointment within a week. The 3 weeks is an approximate timescale given to manage your expectation. But your anxiety shouldn’t be sky high after a routine mammogram. If you have a problem then the mammogram will detect it, you still had the problem without the mammogram. It’s a good thing.

It was a similar experience that my bloke has had too. We’ve seen a lot of the hospital in the last three months and every visit has been like that.

It started out life threatening and turned into a 10 month hospital stay with a cancer diagnosis, multiple surgeries and then obviously everything that comes with a cancer diagnosis such as chemotherapy.

I feel incredibly grateful that I didn't have to worry about insurance etc that some of the American parents in my online cancer parents groups were often worrying about.

I watch a youtube channel of a guy who is being treated for cancer in the US. His experiences of the American healthcare system have been pretty horrific. I will never be under the illusion their health care system is better, in fact it’s considered the worst of all first world countries.