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?

If you’re talking about a routine mammogram I think you’re being ridiculous. Yes, it’s going to cause some anxiety but it should be manageable. My DH is currently on a 6 week waiting list for a decision to be made on the next step after having a confirmed cancerous tumour removed with spread to lymph nodes. The doctors have said it makes the most sense to start chemo, but they want even more doctors to agree and they aren’t meeting for another week.

Waiting times are fucking awful and hard but right now you have no reason to let the anxiety override. Plenty of people are waiting much longer for treatment or further results when they know something is definitely wrong/they have cancer.

@RosesAndHellebores And what would you do with the information on this NHS passport?

It seems as if you and your family have leaned heavily (if not exclusively) on it at times. But you think this is ok because you’ve been a higher rate taxpayer?

@Horserider5678 I believe NI also covers the state pension, and other state benefits which, of course, you may not need. So it’s a sort of insurance, and like all insurance premiums, you may end up paying way more than you ever get back. The same would apply to private health insurance.

To be honest you should be grateful you get this free routine mammogram, these save lives by catching breast cancer early. This is exactly what happened to me in June, and since then I have had a lumpectomy and about to start chemo. I am so grateful to the NHS that they provide this service, so waiting a couple weeks really isn't the end of the world.

Another argument for private healthcare, isn't it?
This is really a third-rate system.

Again, because you're comparing "having NHS" to "not having NHS at all".
While you should be wanting and pushing for better NHS.
Logical fallacy.

Preventive (public) mammograms are a standard in most of Europe. And results come within less than a week in all 5 countries where I worked so far.

Think about that - why don't women in UK deserve that too?

Now that is an unacceptable wait time. Not starting chemo ASAP is unacceptable.

When my son was diagnosed with cancer last year, he immediately started steroids on the Friday and then by the Monday had also started his first round of chemotherapy.

I'm currently in hospital in the French system. First time as an inpatient. The difference is stark and very sad. I think we've become so used to a broken healthcare system in the UK that we no longer see how badly it's failing.

OP
you are clearly very anxious
you are struggling to tolerate uncertainty
our health is all about uncertainty
we can’t expect routine health screening to go faster - the system is under so much pressure -
yes y pay nat. Insurance
you would be paying a whole lot more if you were paying USA / private healthcare -
so like people have said - be grateful !!

find something to distract yourself -
or you are going to have a very uncomfortable few weeks wait !!!

Don't get prostate cancer. There's a six month wait for diagnosis in our area.

You had the assurance that there is an A&E service you could get and who would treat you no questions asked. That you could pick up the phone and call an ambulance if you needed it. That if you got cancer you would get treatment without bankrupting yourself. £240k would pay for a couple of hospital stays for you and your family on the US.

Compared to you I have paid in more and taken out far less. But I appreciate knowing that there is a service I can use if I needed it or wanted it.

Because the mean salary in the UK is £31,600, and NI paid on that is £2,284. Over 50 working years that's £114,000 which doesn't cover the cost of a state pension, never mind NHS treatment.

To be a net contributor in any year, you have to earn somewhere north of £50k which means the majority of people cost more than they contribute.

https://breastcancernow.org/about-us/blogs/how-long-for-mammogram-recall-results

1% of routine mammograms reveal cancer. The NHS still pays to make sure that the 1% are identified. That's pretty good service.

Next time do like your American friend has no choice but to do and pay to go private - you'll wait 2/3 days for the result but you'll be at least £3k out of pocket!

I agree the French system is wildly better. They do have copayments and an insurance model, but not the sort of Hunger Games approach of the US. I wish we could get out from under the shadow of the nightmarish US healthcare system and look instead at how our nearer neighbours handle things.

France spends a little bit more than us, about 1% more, and the mutuelle on top is maybe another £50 a month. So for most people it's like a water bill, not a mortgage. And the difference in care is amazing.

I truly am sorry you are worrying about your results. I had mine done just over 2 weeks ago now because I got a text to go. I must admit it was so efficient - in and out in - perhaps 6/7 minutes (probably quicker), that I haven't even thought about when the results will be sent out. I am just grateful for the text and as I would of done nothing about getting a mommogram without it. The delay in getting my results is actually reassuring me as when I went to the GP a few years back and gave a blood test and told I could phone in a couple of days, they phoned within a few hours to come back. Super grateful for everything we are given but appreciate not everyone has the best of experiences.

Hope you get your results soon.

I live in Spain.
Free healthcare.
Routine breast scans from 45. Every two years.
Results in 15 minutes.

That's not what I'm saying and I disagree with the fact that we have leaned on it heavily. Indeed when it's services were clinically needed they were declined: bladder repair after a botched birth, failure to diagnose graves disease, refusal to deal with an ENT referral for the children after 14 and 11 ear infections respectively, failure to provide MH services to my dd, regarding my osteoporosis declining me the most optimal course of treatment because I was a year too young - teriparatide, so I paid for it privately £2500. I haven't used it for much else.

I think it would be useful for everyone to have a view of their individual cost to the state, on a net basis.

It’s true though isn’t it. People in America pay for their own private health insurance or they work for a company that pays for them. Same in the UK, there’s lots of us who choose to work for companies that pay for private health insurance, others pay private for themselves, others choose to rely on the NHS which is free at point of use. Yes we pay taxes that go towards the NHS but most people won’t pay enough to cover all their costs, and the point of it is that is a universal NHS so basic healthcare is covered for everyone. It’s not perfect but it is there. You do need to pay private if you want things quicker.

If anything is amiss, you'll hear a lot sooner. I had the results of mine, plus a biopsy within two weeks. The result of the biopsy only took two days. And all was fine. No news is good news?

My comment wasn't intended to be 'shut up and pay private'. It was an illustration of what I had to do to get my results quickly, but also an explanation that the service in the States actually isn't better than ours.

In the US you're only getting rapid health care if you can pay for it - and thank goodness we don't have the same set-up for prescriptions here.

💯

We have a home in France and it's beyond comparison. Here it's shot for everyone and nine times out of ten delivered with very little basic courtesy.

@Summortimei am so sorry this is making you anxious and i completely understand why. It’s shit.

I work in NHS screening and if there was anything nasty or unusual found you would generally hear much sooner. These cases get prioritised, the negative ones which is the majority then have to wait to be signed off hence the three week turnaround.

I know it’s super hard but try not to worry, if there’s anything you need to know hopefully you’ll hear soon

National Insurance is just another tax though - notionally it pays for NHS and benefits and pensions but clearly it doesn't cover all of that.

Americans are paying their taxes AND health insurance. Failure to have health insurance can mean you go bankrupt. Our system is in no way comparable. If you like the US system so much then by all means get your own health insurance here.

It is only free if you don’t pay any tax. If you do pay a tax you have to cover the cost of everyone who doesn’t pay tax and that is an awful lot of people in the UK. That is why the nhs is not great.