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 worked with a company who provided health care you would get the same treatment. I work in banking we can a yearly health check via bupa, my dad is a bus driver he gets annual health check as well as his 6 monthly driver check.

NHS is free at point of use. So not free because you national insurance -which also covers other things. But your mammogram probably cost more than you annual NI contributions

Thank you Sleepysunrise for that clear explanation of the process. ✅

I would never compromise on the publicly funded - universal access to health care. So obligatory insurance / employer contributions, topped up with government contributions for unemployed unable to work etc., similar to NHS in that regard.
But the problem with NHS is IMHO too much internal overhead - too many managers and not-patient facing staff, sucking the resources but not adding value to the service in the end, and too much reliance on private outsourced providers: as many people in this thread noted, radiology is for example outsourced to private companies, instead of having internal radiologist. Now, why is that? Because UK educated radiologists relocate to Australia to work as they can earn 15x more.
So I would say: mega-increase the salaries of the medical staff in UK, hire more of them, and cover the cost by letting go CEO like managers and reducing admin. Also, fund it more from the government, and introduce much higher standards of what is considered normal and acceptable.

Wishful thinking in many aspects for sure, but something we should strive for (instead of just being grateful for status quo).

IMHO

The general rule to remember with NHS test results is that no news is good news

And that's an awful experience. It leads to all sorts of anxiety about "what if my results got lost" etc

Every public facing commercial organisation I've worked with has, in the last 10+ years, learned that customer feedback is good.

Waiting for a bus or a taxi in the old days was a worry "did the bus go early, has it broken down, should i start walking" etc

Now the bus shelter tells you the bus is coming, or ypur phone that your parcel has been picked, despatched, delivered etc.

Calmness ensues.

But they don't actually do it for your benefit. They do it because they have to field fewer queries from twitchy people which cost £20+ a time to process in the call centre.

We're so indoctrinated about the NHS to believe that everyone works really hard and it's underfunded and they do the best possible job and it's government run and not at all using the private sector.

It's not true. It's an old organisation that would die in a heartbeat if an equivalent organisation was allowed to compete.
Huge parts are private, such as GP's and dentists and opticians, and many parts (scans and various 'oscopies) are outsourced to private providers because they do it better, faster, and cheaper.

It's abandoned some routine provision almost completely.

It actually rations healthcare. And in a way that only people of status can jump the queue. (Cabinet ministers never get stuck on a long waiting list).

The NHS has to change, and we should not be berated for saying so. It is literally killing us, just look at our survival rates for cancers compared to EU countries.

And it should become National again The devolution and duplication and disconnect between the various UK countries HS is ridiculous. Just try getting a prescription in England when your health service is in Wales!!

I know the NHS has some good people in it, and some of them work hard. But they work in a system that reduces the effect of their efforts. That's not fair on them or us.

Agree with you @Talk2Night
Crikey, if I had a breakdown every time I waited for my cancer scan results, I would never get anything done.

I appreciate that the huge issues facing the NHS are structural and go beyond mere funding. I also appreciate that some patients can be obnoxious and I sympathise deeply with staff who have to deal with them.

But - I also think that some of the most negative aspects of the NHS are not directly caused by lack of funds. Two of my moans are: lack of clear communication, often while attending hospital appointments; and abrasive staff (not all, but it’s an issue!).

I don’t know why certain policies aren’t implemented. If huge family groups turn up to A &E, or if a patient turns nasty and abuses staff, why are bouncers not employed to deal with them effectively? We can’t expect nurses to confront obnoxious or violent people who won’t comply with instructions, but a 6 ft 6 bloke (ex army/ security) would be able to. It would be money well spent and take the pressure off clinical staff.

Even the BMA thinks the NHS is under managed.

https://www.bmj.com/content/381/bmj.p1313.full

Hmm. I would venture that it is the bureaucracy that needs to be cut, then fewer managers will be necessary.

Who'd have thought that the BMA, a Trade Union, would be saying that more of its members need to be employed....

Shocked I am, truly shocked.

I thought they were too busy making sure everyone got hefty pay rises.

Seem to have changed their mind in 2024...

Abolish NHS England and overhaul management to improve NHS productivity, says think tank | The BMJ

I believe the idea about solving every institutions problems with more managers and outsourced consultants is very English. Seems logical on paper, but in the end you end up with CEO like positions where people with no experience relevant to the field (in NHS, they are not doctors, in Universities, they are not academics) get incredibly blown up salaries to manage people who actually do the work, and it gets increasingly counterproductive.

Can't believe the number of posters telling the OP to be grateful because the NHS is free. Just because something is free doesn't mean you have to accept it works badly! The NHS is overstretched, underfunded, and rubbish in many aspects. A 3 week wait for results is ridiculous and no one should shut up and put up with it.
How about we all demand better funding for the NHS because it's vital we all get the best medical care as quickly and efficiently as possible? Why do we have to put up with rotten care just because it's free (which, btw, it isn't - it's funded by the tax-payer).

Who'd have thought that the BMA, a Trade Union, would be saying that more of its members need to be employed....

BMA members are doctors, not managers. 🤷‍♀️

Amen.

My DH is a clinical director i.e. both 🤷‍♀️ (He thinks the BMA are fringe lunatics of the deluded Trotskyite order though).

Many of his fellow consultants take on management responsibility because it’s a way of getting up the pay scale, particularly if you’ve already maxed out your PA’s.

It's a routine test, you are not t the top of the pile.

If a radiographer sees something they will alert a radiologist.

Otherwise the radiologist goes through the mammograms and writes reports.

You want an accurate report not a fast one.

I know you didn’t @Kirbert2, I was pointing out that many Brits say “NHS” when they mean “healthcare” as you did.

It’s like saying “Some of my ancestors starved, but my DC have access to food, so I’m really grateful to Safeway”. Which ignores the intervening centuries of innovation in farming and food production that are actually responsible for us not starving, and also the readily available alternatives to Safeway that provide much better food at an equally reasonable price!

It also plays into the false perception of “our NHS” as some kind of homogenous, benevolent blob. It’s massively fragmented, almost certainly employs too many people (and yet is constantly understaffed where it matters) and the only thing growing faster than its clinical negligence payouts is patient demand - which is unlimited. We are going to have to pay more one way or another and personally I would prefer an alternative European insurance-based system, rather than nationalized healthcare being the only circus in town.

Which is why the NHS is undermanaged. Doctors should be treating patients, not taking on work for which they have no skills or training that diverts them from patient care to boost their already bloated salaries. No wonder people complain so bitterly about waiting for treatment.

Once a year? That seems excessive.

Would you prefer that an accountant or business studies grad wrote the hospital’s protocol for chemotherapy applicable to a cancer you developed @Blossomtoes? What about an HR manager deciding whether a particular procedure was clinically appropriate or puts the hospital at risk of a negligence claim?

In addition to his management and private work he manages 12PA’s - more than FT in itself.

The idea that consultants are overpaid is laughable when salaries are more than double elsewhere. DH was recently headhunted for a job in Bermuda - which he has no intention of taking - which was 5 times higher than his NHS salary. Admittedly there are other advantages in the NHS that we don’t hear enough about - wildly generous pension, decent training, guaranteed employment at senior level plus you’re virtually bombproof when it comes to being sacked.

Anyway, the point is BMA members might well be managers.

Reporting should be fast and accurate. That's actually what we deserve.

If I can have a scan in the EU and go home with the radiologist's report, why can't the UK NHS do that?

Google is your friend then mate, pretty easy.

It’s not free. We pay for it through taxes

Might be true for you, but when you look at the average across the nation do you really think the majority pay in more than they take? I think you all forget MN is mainly higher middle class.

Here’s a good article for those of you who cba using your googling skills.

NHS costs

vs the average NI contribution per year being £2400.

To all those comparing NI contributions (average, nation wide, personal....)....

Where do you think money to plug the whole comes from? From the PM's personal inherited wealth?

It comes from public finances, which is funded by taxes.

So again, funded by - us!