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?

Like most people also waiting.

I actually think three weeks is ok. I’ve got to wait 3 months for a scan result and I’ve not had heart trace results back I had done a few months ago.

Why not seek an employer who will pay for your health benefits? However be prepared to pay benefits in kind and also check if screening is included.

Mammograms are optional, OP, so if you don't like the set up then you can choose not to participate. The NHS might be better for you if you use it to manage your anxiety.

This - you cannot compare the US to here because they PAY for their healthcare through sky high insurance premiums, plus they usually pay an excess too. It’s not as grand as you think it is.

I know we “pay”, but a few pounds a month is nothing compared to what Americans have to fork out for insurance premiums.

If you want better care here, you always have the option to pay for private health insurance (as I do).

It’s pennies compared to US insurance premiums.

If there is anything obviously wrong you get called back very quickly, if there is nothing obvious I think it goes away to be fully checked it takes a while, but that's pretty much good news. I had a faulty one and got a call back the same afternoon for a repeat, a friend with a small lump got asked to wait and was called back in for some more scans and referred straight away.

I think for a routine mammogram it’s fine and similar to wait times for smear tests. When I’ve had to have breast lumps checked out, I’ve got an appointment at the breast clinic within a week and got the results the same day so be assured it’s usually quicker when the risk is more acute.

You could always find an employer who’ll pay for your health insurance?

I had a routine mammogram on 8th October, was told if would be two or three weeks until I heard and got a letter on 16th October

I do not have an issue with a 2-3 week wait for mammogram results as part of the routine screening programme. Over 2 million are done in a year.
When I needed an urgent mammogram due to finding a lump, I received my results the same day. So no complaints from me.

The fact that some people have to wait longer for results does not mean the OP is unreasonable to think that mammogram results could be turned around more quickly.

It is possible to acknowledge that the NHS is stretched and also to think that improvements could be made.

I’ve had 2 private mammograms in the last few years and had results immediately. I think that a decent public health service should have results within a few days.
I’ve been horrified at some of the waits for results for people who are seriously ill so I’m not surprised at OP’s waiting time, but I don’t think it’s acceptable.

We are similar to the US in some senses.

In the US you get the service your friend has if you work for an employer that has good health cover, or you are rich.

Same here: some employers here do offer health cover (mine does), and some people are rich.

What is different is everybody that is left. In the US that group simply don’t get any mammograms, and it is not a small group at all. Here, they do via the NHS. You are simply in this group.

Pah, that's not long at all

Im on a red flag for a breast lump - 12 weeks to get seen at the earliest !!!

You could pay private like they do in America and have the results within a day or 2. Or you can us the NHS and wait for the results.

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.

No, that's still on you and your need for help with your anxiety.

Most women don't have 'sky high anxiety' because they have to wait a few weeks after a routine mammogram.

Wait until you get a cancer diagnosis and you get to live from scan to scan. No direct results, just weeks to wait for your results, weeks to wait until you find out whether you remain on treatment or move to the next one. That IS anxiety inducing!

So pay to go private if the state provision isn’t good enough for you. You have the option to do that.

You absolutely would not want to replace the NHS with the American health system. My god the very notion is terrifying.

I had a scan for something that could have been serious back in June. The results were with the GP within 2 weeks, and I got a notification in the NHS app telling me to book an appointment with the GP to discuss those results. The GP would not let me make an appointment any sooner than 4 weeks, which was a brief phone call in which the GP seemed surprised I didn't already know the results. Fun.

so you think you should get priority over non working people? how is your thinking here?

It is a routine check up, you wait for routine times.
If it is an urgent referral it's usually quicker.

It’s really pointless comparing private healthcare to the NHS.

If you would like the same service as your American friend, feel free to pay privately and then you can get your results back in a few days too.

It's free at point of use, but we all pay for it. The NHS imo is something to be very glad we have, and we should value it more than we sometimes do, but we don't have to be 'grateful' for it. It's a public service whose cost we all contribute to.

What we get is far cheaper than what we should be paying for it though. I had a surgery that was £10k minimum private, for a very low cost monthly!!!

I would probably get something for your anxiety, it was just a routine screening