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?

Op, I’m not sure you understand how much healthcare actually costs. I recently had a private appointment that was 20 mins and pointless as they’d referred me to wrong person (£325). When eventually I got my operation the anaesthetist alone was in the thousands, let alone the surgeon. And this was a super basic procedure!

luckily I have insurance through work.

I’m in the same boat exactly. A constant 3 week wait for scan results. It’s brutal.

There are many, many issues with the NHS but I don't think a 3 week for the results of a routine mammogram is one of them.

Do you not understand the time-value of money, and the fact that 10k funded today is worth multiples more in 30 years?

For a routine mammogram 3 weeks is fine. If you had symptoms of breast cancer then I can imagine 3 weeks would feel very long. To be it’s like having a smear test. Last time I waited 12 weeks for my results.

I am so, so sorry.
You deserve so much more. Everyone does.

I am also not aware of how much does road work cost.

But if I had an enormous pothole in front of the house, I would expect that it is taken care of, regardless of how much I paid into road tax so far or not.

Some things are just a matter of level of civilization we live at.

Apologies -
just read the post u quoted, which is NOT OP’s

I think you want to look into the poster I was quoting, and then apologize (to her, not me, necessarily...).

And read better before posting.

And if one of those mammograms showed cancer, the cost of your treatment would far exceed the amount of NI you’ve paid for all those years. (Not all your NI goes to the NHS)

For those of you saying 'it's free'. It's not really 'free' is it? Both myself and my husband pay a ridiculous amount of NI per month. It may well be 'free' for those of you who have never had a job!

Ah, I thought this was scans and tests in general. I have to say I have been to quite a few tests/biopsies/scans/mammograms some myself but mostly with relatives and we have found that if something sinister is found you get a quick call, if there’s nothing to worry about they leave you hanging for a routine follow up.
No news is good news is how it seems to operate, no one tells you this, and you worry yourself to sleep for sometimes weeks, then you arrive at the appointment to be find the dr shocked that you would have worried, when they would have called you if there was an issue.
So no, not rubbish.

Yabu and a bit dramatic. I am grateful to have the NHS and that it is free at point of contact. Of course it has to be funded by working people and doesn’t run like private health care but then it costs much less and is available to all regardless of means. I would rather this than the American system.

Most people go for routine screening and barely give it another thought until their results come through. I think if your anxiety is so bad regarding a routine screening appointment then you need to see someone about that.

i have needed the NHS a number of times over the years and when something has been urgent they have treated it as such. I am not saying the NHS doesn’t have issues but my experience has been positive even when I have had to wait for test results be those routine or otherwise. I tend to think when something is found they are likely to flag those sooner. They won’t be sat waiting in a pile for the consultant to dictate a letter to say all is well. I am happy for priority to be given to those most in need.

Just because you can get it in a couple of days doesn't mean everyone does. Not even in super shiny America.

You cannot say that because you do not know the combined NI and tax contributions the posterhas made.

I thought we were past people pretending not to understand that free means 'free at the point of use/need' but here we are.

I'm in the US. My health insurance pays for all of my preventative testing with no out-of-pocket cost to me other than my premium. My premium is $150/month. I usually get my mammogram results the same day as the test if it's early enough in the day otherwise it's the next day.

There is loads of evidence on this thread alone that your assumptions are wrong.

You maintain them just so you can cope with current state of NHS more easily ("it was always good when I needed it", "if there was a problem they would flag it sooner", "it's better than US" (as if US was THE ONLY COUNTRY THAT EVER EXISTED apart from UK).

Really, the lack of acknowledgment about the apparent flaws of NHS is so, so striking to me.

Really, the lack of acknowledgment about NHS is so, so striking to me.

So those of us who have experienced excellence shouldn’t talk about it?

True. Sometimes is a day after the test, or up to 5, if holidays play a role...

But have your faulty 3 weeks wait while convinced it's the absolute top.

YANBU OP. The state of healthcare in this country is shocking.

I have a lots of American friends. As long as you're on a decent insurance plan in a competitive market, things are good. They'd never want the NHS. There will always be some issues which is why light touch regulation is needed.

I'll take the NHS over a system that bankrupts people any day. Only one of them isn't a result of greed and isn't unreformable. 'Top' indeed.

If you qualify for your pension at 67 and live until you are 87, 20 years in receipt of the full rate State Pension (currently £12k per year) would come to £240k, i.e. what you have paid in which doesn't take into account any medical treatment you have had, including child birth. Life expectancy for middle class women is around 85/86. You'll probably end up getting your money's worth.

I'm in my 15th week of waiting for MRI results. I am not worried as I assume if there was a major problem I would have been informed by now but it is ridiculous nonetheless. Maybe I should be grateful that I waited 6 months for the scan and am only in my 4th month of waiting for the results, because it's 'free'?

I don't like the snarky tone of some of the posters advising OP to get some help for her anxiety, as if she's chosen to feel this way. It's quite correct to point out that it's reasonable to expect faster test results when there's actually a known serious health issue, but it's not reassuring to be sneered at for wishing your fears could be put to bed sooner.
As some pps have mentioned, my mammogram and other screening tests usually come back well before the time suggested. I hope yours will be the same, OP, with no abnormalities detected.