NHS - isn't there supposed to be a way to check surgery waiting times?

[fistulaworldproblems]

DH has a fistula that he's been waiting at least 2 years to have surgery on, but they've been trying him on different medications first before resorting to surgery. Having exhausted everything, he finally had his consultation and has been told the waiting time is a minimum of 48 weeks 😢.

I checked the 'NHS - My Planned Care' website and it states that the average waiting time for colorectal surgery in our local hospital is 17 weeks - not exactly a small difference! I thought the point of this website was to let you have a look at other waiting lists and let you apply to transfer if you were happy to travel for your treatment, but it doesn't seem to let you do that, nor does it have any info on where to feedback if the waiting times aren't accurate.

DH can't work until it's done and isn't even able to get much exercise as he can only walk very short distances before being in agony. This is really affecting his mental health as he's a hard worker who keeps himself fit (normally). Can anyone please advise if there's anything we can try next?

I just found another part of the website where you can put your postcode in and it does indeed compare, but almost every hospital says around the same waiting time as his, so how do we know that doesn't also mean 48 weeks IRL?! Just what is the point of providing this service if the hospitals can just lie about their waiting times!

48 week wait for surgery when he's already had it for 2 years is outrageous. I know it's not ideal, but are you able to consider paying for treatment privately? Depending on the location of the fistula, some operations are quite simple.

Depends on the kind of surgery - fistula surgery is quite specialised and so might be a longer wait if only one consultant can do it.

I'm having to wait 9 months to see a specialist who I should be able to access within 12 weeks according to that site. It's certainly not accurate for me either, op.