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?

You need to go to a private consultant in a city if you want quick results. The NHS is free for people so you don't have to pay. In the US you would have to pay which you can also do privately in the UK. If you have concerns then you must contact the relevant department or a specialist nurse.

I'll add that some tests are no longer available at all in Fife - Fife no longer does leg vein scans.

I finished up paying to have mine done...by the chap who used to do them for Fife. (Turns out that I'm missing some valves in one leg...They were never there in the first place, which explains a lot.)

The USA spends 17% of it's GDP on healthcare, the UK spends 11%. Add in the fact that much of that 17% will be spent on those who are able to afford good insurance and you can see why they can have great turn around times for tests. If we want a similar service for all our population, we would need to pay a lot more tax.

What a moaner you are 😂

@Summortime I don't have the patience to read the whole thread, but I think your attitude needs some adjusting.
There is a wait for the results for NHS mammograms because they factor in what will be needed next if more tests etc are needed. So they don't tell people something has come up but then they have weeks to wait for the next step.
And yes, NI does pay for the NHS but it also pays for state pensions and benefits. You could always emigrate to somewhere where everything is private?

@RosesAndHellebores No, it isn't shot (or shit) for everyone. I'm sorry you think that.

I've had one emergency op, one childbirth and a mastectomy/chemo/radio etc.

The treatment I have received on the NHS has always been fast, professional, compassionate and effective. And totally lacking in paperwork.

Now you really are attention seeking.

Are you all aware that US is not the only country to compare healthcare to?
It's really like saying "well it's better than being dead isn't it", which is a very lousy argument.

The NHS and many other services are also funded from taxation.

I shall never stop paying tax, just as my 89 year old mother and mother in law ha e not stopped paying tax. You name it, we've paid it over the years, including: IHT, CGT and stamp duty.

It is perfectly reasonable that everyone who uses the NHS is treated well because they are all paid for.

Point taken, that is very true. I got really annoyed with a friend some years back for constantly moaning about delays with the diagnostics and treatment she received for a rare condition. I remembered wondering if she'd thought how much the whole thing would have cost her to go private.

I had this on Thursday and was told 4-5 week wait for the results. Realistically that's pretty good for a routine mammogram that we don't even have to pay for.

Will the USA give us a £40 billion handout if we bust our economy a la Millei as well?

I shall not forget when my mother, aged 87, needed a blood test prior to a cardiology appointment for which she had to travel 80 miles. She really struggles with tech and couldn't make it on the computer system so telephoned phlebotomy to be told peremptorily, at a time when she was very anxious, "no, you can't make an appointment by phone. If you can't make it using the computer system, then you need to find someone who can to do it for you". It was a despicable way to treat an old lady with potential heart failure and a poor prognosis without the op.

I did it for her of course but what she experienced is the attitude I experience 50% of the time when using the NHS.

I have stage 4 cancer and I basically live scan to scan, every 3 months. It determines my treatment lines, which I have now exhausted. I regularly wait over 3 weeks for the results,despite them being used to determine what or if I can have further treatment.

Your US colleague will not be getting her mammogram for free! You had a routine screening, 3 weeks is nothing! Recently had the all clear from my routine smear test. Was told up to 4 weeks, got it back a week later. The NHS has its faults, but we are so lucky to receive such screening services without additional cost.

@Summortime
Be grateful that routine mammograms are offered.
I had mine on 7th July and received a recall letter on 16th for a repeat, ultrasound and biopsy on 23rd. Results from that on 11th August. I then had to have one with contrast and got my final results on 1st September. Had surgery 5 weeks ago and starting radiotherapy in a couple of weeks. No complaints from me about the NHS.
Just think, in the US if you receive a breast cancer diagnosis any surgery, radiotherapy, chemo and medication would have to be paid for by you or your medical insurance (which will be costing much more if the US government doesn’t get back to work).
Be careful what you wish for.
I wouldn’t swap the NHS for the US system.

I agree. Mine amounts to two births - one live, one otherwise - and gall bladder removal. Not bad in 72 years. It’s been a real eye opener seeing cancer treatment from a front row seat, it’s seriously impressive when a patient can report concerns in the morning and be seen in a world class cancer centre the same afternoon. I defy any healthcare system anywhere to better that.

If it's a routine mammogram, then why are you anxious? Every woman over 50 is invited to a routine mammogram, even if she's never reported symptoms.

In fact I've rarely had anything after a mammogram: I assume that's it's because they saw nothing. I assume they only follow up if they find something to follow up.

In my experience they’re back within a week or so. The worst wait was when I got a callback and had to go through to biopsy stage (all done at the breast clinic in one afternoon), then the week’s wait was torturous. I did get the all-clear thankfully.
You can get any test privately if you pay / I’ve done it a few times. I’d hate to be in a US system.

Erm... I am a breastscreening manager and this is absolutely not true.
ALL mammograms are read by 2 film readers in the same time scale and then escalated to arbitration if there is a clinical alert.
You will then receive an invitation to return for assessment within 14 days if we need to recall you.
It is not a code of practice to call anyone and we would not be able to call someone in to start "planning treatment " without carrying out further diagnostic tests.
This is rubbish.

Yes, you're not special in this. The majority of us pay in, I also pay in a significant amount.
It's free at the point of access.
God forbid you did have a cancer and it was work health insurance like the USA, you could need over a year off and it wouldn't cover all your treatment. What if you needed life long treatment and couldn't work anymore?
We're incredibly lucky in the UK, despite what certain people are trying to make us believe.
And for what it is worth, if there is something sinister they usually contact you much sooner.
Get help for your anxiety, and get over yourself.

Health care systems are struggling everywhere.

https://en.tessan.io/blog/delai-de-prise-de-rendez-vous-chez-le-medecin-long-les-raisons

https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/breast-cancer/getting-diagnosed/screening-breast

According to this 9 in 1000 women having routine screening have cancer. So 0.9%. Your worry is probably misplaced.

If it was non routine screening you'd probably have the results in a couple of days if that, ditto if they find anything nefarious in your mammogram. I think 3 weeks for someone symptomless is pretty good actually and I am personally all too aware of what a shitshow the NHS is when it comes to women's health.

@Summortime - "... When she complained to PALS in desperation she was told sorry not enough staff. And that’s what we’re meant to be grateful for?"

The problem with NHS funding and understaffing is that taxpayers are unwilling to pay enough to fund it properly. And I'm afraid you sound a bit like one of those taxpayers.

As a retired NHS manager myself I have on more than one occasion paid for private consultations and tests because the NHS is too slow.

NI doesn't just go to the NHS.

Are you planning on not claiming your state pension?