Gall bladder op - waiting time London any idea?

[HPparent]

Had an ultrasound today and the technician found a large gall stone which he said required surgery. Going back to GP next week for referral to hospital. Does anyone have an idea how long the wait might be? I'm in the st Mary's or Hammersmith hospital catchment area. Thanks!

bumping this for you and sorry I don't know re: waiting times, but I had my gallbladder out last year so know how important it is to know when your op's going to be! You could phone both hospital's and ask to speak to the relevant secretaries in advance of going to the GP though - they'll be able to tell you what the wait times are.

I would phone up and ask as Dotty says. I had mine out earlier this year (Surrey) and was classed as an emergency and got the phone call 5 weeks after being admitted to A & E although I'd already had it done through BUPA.

I hope you get an appointment soon.

I'm in Essex.
Had a scan in March (for left sided pain I thought was ovary related)
Had results about 2 weeks before Easter.
Had appointment end June with surgeon. Still having left sided pain.
Had colonoscopy/endoscopy end July
Got inital results (colitis, GP says Ulcerative Colitis, this has been going on for about a year BTW)

Had appointment for October for follow up, but managed to get a cancellation for next week.

And I'm not even on the sodding waiting list for surgery so who knows

And I work for the NHS and I'm a non smoking , non drinking vegetarian (for the past 34 years) so I shouldn't even have a gallstone / colitis.

Rant over.
Calm Calm Calm Calm

Thanks Dottydot and Pink that is a really good idea! I have just applied for a new job do it would be good to have some idea.

Sorry to hear about your experiences 70isa, I hope you get a proper diagnosis and effective treatment soon. It puts my stone in perspective no symptoms at all today.

My local hospital in York has someone specifically for waiting list queries. I got the number from the general surgeon's secretary and they were really helpful. However my GP knew roughly the waiting time but the clock only 'started' when I saw the consultant so a few weeks added to the original 18 I was quoted.

Hope it's not too long, mines a week on Monday!

Good luck squeakyheart! The referral time for hospital around here is about 2-3 weeks based on recent experience so if I add another 16-18 weeks onto that, looking at Jan/Feb time I think! At the moment I am being really careful food wise and have no symptoms, so I shouldn't complain really I guess.

Down on the South Coast, from the day I first saw my GP with gallstone pain, to the date of my op, was 4 months.

Hope you get yours sorted asap - I know only too well how painful it all is.

It was 20 weeks from scan to op for me (in London).

Good luck - best decision I ever made!

It's usually 18 weeks from consultant appointment.