ENT Referral, how long?

[bananainpjs]

My little one has sleep apnea. Possible cause adenoids and tonsils. GP has sent an urgent referral to ENT after seeing videos. It’s been 4 weeks and still not heard anything. How long am I expected to wait? I’m thinking of going private but have no insurance so worried about the cost but also don’t think I can go on living like this with my child’s lack of sleep.

Thank you

Sorry your child is suffering, have you called your local hospital and asked for the length of wait for an ENT paediatrics urgent referral, they should be able to give you a rough guide. Usually children are seen much faster than adults, but waiting lists are extremely high due to Covid. Good luck, I hope you can get an appt soon.

It varies around the country but it's much much longer than usual around here. Potentially months. You can try for an expedite letter from your GP, but this isn't a guarantee, and ask them to note you'll be happy to take cancellations.

They are refusing to give waiting times.
My son is already on his second set of antibiotics this year and it’s only March 1st!

I don’t know what to do. I rang the GP yesterday, they don’t know the delay. I rang the paediatric receptionist who said cancellations will go to those who are before us on the list.

I have asked for quotes for private, the operation itself is £3.1K! This doesn’t include the consolation fees etc.

It's currently more than 4 weeks for a 2 week suspected cancer referral round here (adults) so I'd guess you are looking at months.

Everything is absolute nuts on waiting times.

You have a few options, go back to GP and ask if they can help, contact local MP, crowd fund for the surgery.

If they won’t say the wait, I agree with previous post, months at best.

Private medical insurance isn’t always the answer, We have private medical insurance, my adult son, needs a minor op that is not covered, NHS will take for ever, private med won’t cover as deemed cosmetic (it’s not!) so we shall pay privately.

Thankfully it’s no where near as expensive, as the op your child needs. Good luck.

My DS was referred to ENT in Oct 2020 and we're still waiting for an appointment 17 months later! Every time I call they apolgise for the wait but say there isn't anything more they can do.

Meant to be seen within 18 weeks of referral, but a decade of austerity followed by Covid have fucked that.

@bobsholi is the appointment urgent?
I contacted PALS, and miraculously got an appointment 2 days later.

I don’t know whether complaining to PALS helped or complaining to GP as it was his second illness of the year. But apparently sleep apnea, the are more worried about than the tonsils themselves.

Excellent, well done for getting an appt OP. I hope it goes well.