How long are ENT referrals taking?

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My DS1's GP has agreed to refer him to ENT for suspected vocal cord nodules (is it cord or chord?).

Does anyone have a sense of the waiting times? We can't go to a speec therapist until we have a diagnosis for what kind of voice disorder it is.

bump

Well I was referred in October and still on the waiting list for an appointment......

My Son had an urgent appointment for July 2020. It got postponed to September, then January 2021 then was supposed to be next week.

It has now been postponed again until August.

There are no words for how angry I am.

Im also supposed to be seeing ENT but can't book an appointment using my referral form because the waiting list for adult ENT is 56 weeks long...

Speak to PALS at the hospital. I was waiting 9 weeks and complained, and was seen the following week.

DH was put on the waiting list for a perforated eardrum repair and ossicular reconstruction back in September 2019. Obviously Covid slowed things down but they rang him two weeks ago and he is finally having his operation this Thursday.

Oh FlipFlop I'm sorry.

Sounds like the answer is: "long".

It will very much depend on your area. I waited 10 months pre covid and they were chased up a number of times by my nice gp as I had a vestibular disorder and couldnt walk unaided or stop vomiting but my partner was seen a couple of years ago within a few weeks for something fairly non bothersome.

If you can afford a private consultation do that. A lot of teams were told not see anybody except possible cancers for at least three months last year, often six. It's a huge backlog. We are powering through as much as we can (am hospital manager) but realistically non urgents referred today will be six months plus wait at least and ent is notoriously under pressure for waits.

How old is he?

Our 12 year old was referred in March and seen last week. He’d had the ultrasound scan 10 days after being referred.

We’re in Wales if that makes a difference.

crikey.

thank you northernlurker.

..... we need to train and retain more doctors in this country and nurses too.......

(statement of the obvious, sorry)

.... sorry for second question.

At what point is it possible to explore going private? Any time from now? Or do I have to wait until a letter comes saying "book your appt".

My other son and I have both had ENT appts with 3 weeks in the past but that was pre-covid. :(

.... I suppose the other thing is that, even though I'm confident it's benign, I guess he might be fast-tracked because of cancer suspicion (unexplained hoarseness).

Ah well.....

In NI it's about 4 years. Waiting lists for almost every specialty are in years. Not weeks. Not months. Years. It was bad enough before covid...

Good grief!

I would just see someone privately now if I were you. In fact, I did back in December after finding out the months long waiting list on NHS. Cost £250 but at least I got seen.

I would ask your gp if it's being fast tracked and if not explore your private options immediately. My trust has waiting lists years long for ops and some services. My services are under a year but we weren't in too bad shape before Covid.

Dd was referred last October and got seen in April. More appointments were being put on on Saturdays

I think it will massively depend where you live and how much they have going on. I am currently under an ENT consultant. To give you an idea...

First telephone appointment in November prescribed 12 weeks of medication. Appointment in person in mid March. CT scan at end of April. Heard nothing since then. So I'm assuming as it was a head CT scan nothing terrible was discovered!

Hope this helps. I do imagine they are more busy as lots of long covid stuff, like loss of smell or taste and dizziness may come under ENT.

I'm in Newcastle BTW.

... so if anyone is curious, waiting list typical time is 21 weeks for one clinic, 52 weeks plus for the other.
that's not fast-tracked.

The 21 weeks clinic is in the much more prosperous market town - I guess it's the sort of place where it is pleasant to live as an ENT specialist and also it has been a very low Covid area.

the 52 weeks is in a big city next to a Covid hotspot and less prosperous.

postcode lottery!

Honestly as I mentioned above, you need to complain to your hospitals PALS (Patient Advice and Liaison Service) or your local CCG (clinical commissioning group)

People complaining is the only way to instigate change.

Crikey - it was so much faster than that for my 12 year old son in to be seen by ENT in South Wales.
Sorry you’re going through this. I would definitely contact PALS but go private for the initial consultation if you’re in a position to do so.