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?

In fact if it was serious they d prioritise getting back to you sooner, if at all possible.

But more generally this is a routine test so you don't need to feel so anxious. You are no more likely to have cancer today than any other day of your life. So try and relax and use whatever techniques you know for anxiety.

No, you absolutely should but it should also be acknowledged that those of us who have received no, or rubbish services, should also be acknowledged.

I always write when I receive disgraceful service but I also write when it is excellent.

Those in the us who can afford such tests will be paying in average much much more than you are

we have chosen to push up house prices, and squeeze every other aspect of our lives including what we pay for health - admit it’s not a personal choice but it’s a choice society has made since a load of people decided to buy OUR council houses off the government for cheap / property became everything and now everyone is paying too much interest on their mortgage to be able to pay for the health service we want

I am really happy for you that your experience has been positive, honestly.

But having positive experience cannot be used to minimize or ignore the structural flaws, as that is a very counterproductive approach.

Imagine if person was saying they were harassed by the police, and complaining that having such police is not good. And then other people saying "well my every encounter with police was very pleasant". Does that mean anything for the problem the first person is pointing out? No, it just serves to convince the second person that awful things happen to others, not to them no, so it's ok and nothing changes. Until the second person encounters their own problem with the police, by which time it will be too late to change anything.

Its possible to appreciate it and be grateful to have access to a healthcare system where you can in good faith make that assumption, while also thinking there is plenty to be improved. Well, possible in the real world - apparently not in Mumsnet land where you can only adopt an extreme position.

If it helps you if there's anything wrong they phone you the same day...as they did for my mum and sister in law. If no problem you get a letter in x number of weeks. It's free unlike your poor friend who have spent hundreds fur her test. Yabu

The NHS has flaws without a doubt, no system is perfect.

It won't stop me from shouting about how they saved my child's life last year.

4-6 weeks where I am. On my 4th week now. One breast left after mastectomy in 2016.
Blame years of austerity.

There is a person from NHS Breast Clinic up on the thread saying that this is categorically not correct.

American society is different to here. People there generally want to look after themselves and don't want to be paying for poorer people to have treatment.

Here at least there is some interest is making healthcare available to everyone.
There's loads wrong with the NHS, we could a million threads on that, but in the grand scheme of things, a three week wait for a routine mammogram result, is quite far down the list.

Wasn’t the case with me. Was called back in for biopsy around a week later. Confirmed a few days later. Surgery 3 weeks later. Was content with that.

OP someone might have already pointed this out ut have you actually logged into the NHS app to view the test results. Most test results come back very quickly and the delay is the GP reviewing them and getting time to notify you. I have had two checks for cancer in the past couple of years and both times the results have been on my NHS app within 2-3 days. Likewise my blood test last week was showing the results on my NHS app 2 days later (still not heard back from the GP after two weeks)

Okaaaaaaaaay. I am actually American and have lived here in the UK half my life so have experienced both systems as a tax paying adult. The taxes are often very similar anyway. My brother needs meds for a chronic bowel condition and he is always fighting the insurance to get them to pay for it. And he is a very high earner. Plus my parents have health insurance AND Medicare (Obamacare) and they still spend $5-10k A YEAR on top of that for various dental and medical stuff that is not covered. Co-pays at appointments etc. You have no clue. I had a blood test here and got the results the same day, never happened to my parents in the US. I could cite many more examples - from real life. Please don't try to say the health care is better in the US. Pay private if the NHS doesn't suit you. This uneducated rhetoric is so boring.

*edited for spelling errors in my rage post. 😅

Have you checked your medical record on the nhs app? I’m waiting for CT results but they are there yet GP not made contact to discuss yet - and the result will need discussing!!

Again, I'm really happy that they did.

My friend lost a child and almost lost her life last year to NHS negligence that should not happen in any civilized country.

You have your child with you and are in a far better position to fight for levels of service that women and people in UK deserve, instead of ignoring such flaws just because they did not fail you when your child needed help.

I am saying that because your first post was not "they are flawed, but god did they still help me". It was rather "all your complaints are wrong we should just be happy everything is fine". And when there are millions of people like you, it makes any change or criticism, or prospect for change, extremely hard.

Same as comparisons to US - is it because generally people in UK mostly know only English, so you compare yourselves with another big English speaking country? But why not Canada then? I am so, so confused by this.

It’s ROUTINE. I had my first routine mammogram recently and I thought three weeks was perfectly reasonable. And I speak as someone who has had cancer and knows all too well about scanxiety.

And you think, tragically, people don't lose their babies due to medical negligence in the US too? It happens everywhere. Medical professionals are humans. And no matter where they work they will be under some form of pressure.

That’s the attitude that has led to all public services being on their knees. You would like to opt out of anything that might be benefiting others and not yourself but now you are in a situation that is not ideal because there are too many people like yourself who don’t want to contribute to wider society so successive governments have become increasingly anti tax while simultaneously handing public money to their mates private companies to line the pockets of company directors. How you are feeling now is how everyone feels eventually once we stop acting like a society where everyone deserves dignity and a basic standard of living.

Summortime sorry that you are finding the wait so stressful. However I think it is a bit unreasonable to bemoan a three week wait for a routine/screening result. Unfortunately all areas are unresourced/overstretched and the expertise needed to read results is in relatively short supply. The NHS is free at the point of use not free and that lack of in the moment payment is the difference between arranging a private mammogram (if they are even available in your area) and joining the queue to be read via your NHS screening service.

Really?

So now we should be grateful when we don't die when we need a doctor, and praise situations where we miraculously emerge alive after a medical event?

Cause that's what you're saying. I responded to poster saying she will praise NHS because they saved her child - and I was using counterexample where they did not to show that one save does not and should not be used to minimize criticism of failing organisation.

Think I waited 2 months for my mri results. Normally no new equals good news.

Now my DD has a referral for peads and that’s a 13 week wait. Bonkers. As they can’t even know what’s wrong or if anything is if they haven’t even met her.

I mean look at this, wherever you look there is evidence that NHS is just not up to standard.

It's not a question of UK v US, it's a question of what other civilized countries are doing and a simple answer is: more.

We deserve that too.

Performance of UK National Health Service compared with other high income countries: observational study - PMC

A mammogram x-ray is not something that can be read in 2 minutes. In the NHS it has to be looked at by at least two clinicians and then reported on, before the results come back to you. They literally have hundreds, if not thousands of results to look at/double check every week. If you have access to the NHS app it might be worth checking your record, as there is a chance you may see the result there before you receive your letter. With the NHS and mammograms, normally no news is good news. As others have said, our NHS can not be fairly compared to the private/insurance system in the US. It’s like comparing an apple with a pomegranate. Hope you won’t be waiting too much longer.

Conclusion of the above study:

The bulk of the nhs is paid for via taxes. NI is minimal that’s used for pensions etc. mainly

clue also is your American friends work healthcare provided cover, does your workplace have insurance? If not you can’t compare

If you want quick results go private, that’s the reality of the US healthcare system