NHS urgent referrals - waiting time

[Borderline77]

Hi,
Last month my GP referred me to an urologist , he marked it as urgent after the ultrasound found something on my kidney,
On my NHS account it said the review by the hospital was due on Jan 9th , if they hadn't contact me to call them. They didn't contact me so I called them she said she saw it as urgent but I still have to wait months for an appointment.
Is that right?

I read somewhere for non urgent is 18 weeks , so urgent should be less

still says review by clinic overdue on my NHS account

thank for this, very useful.

what's 2WW ?

MrsPelligrinoPetrichor Me too. I was absolutely outraged. I asked if they routinely suggested removing organs as a time saving strategy.

Iirc I'd been told the referral had been received and accepted on the 2 week cancer pathway then at the end of the 2 weeks had heard nothing else so called the hospital who told me no such referral existed. So I emailed PALS. It turned out I'd actually been referred to the private hospital (on the NHS) and not the hospital I'd been given the number for Frustrating!

2 week wait (suspected cancer) referrals.

This. Phone the hospital, find out who the relevant department secretaries are, phone until you get a live human. They are usually very helpful. Too many of us sit and wait.

I’ve been in and out of nhs and the private system for the past three years. On both sides I’ve had to chase up referrals, appointments, biopsies, and results. I only ever get an answer when I push. So tiresome and stressful on top of a really serious condition.

I had something show up on my kidney during an ultrasound on Christmas Eve 2019. I was put on the 2 week cancer pathway and had it removed on 20 Feb 2020. I was constantly chasing things up during this time to get appointment dates, surgery dates etc, I don’t know if it made a difference either way, but glad I did as the country went into lockdown a week after I got out of hospital.

May I ask you what was showing up? did they tell you it was cancer pathway?
for me it's an obstruction and dilatation , I don't know it that would be the same or something else like you

And you wonder why it's so difficult to see a GP. For the time people are on waiting lists GP appointments are required for expedite letters, additional advice and treatment of symptoms, further consultations due to change in condition, ongoing monitoring of the condition while waiting. If a GP has say 100 patients waiting to see a hospital consultant and they all have to consult and additional 3-4x that's 400 appointments that could have been used for new patients with new problems. And don't get me started on GPs doing consultant work such as explaining the results of tests done in hospital, counselling patients to start on medication recommended by the consultant as well as "can you do x blood test, prescribe y drug, chase test". I know everyone has it in for GPs but at the moment they are the only ones not on strike and are propping up a failing secondary care service.

Please feel free to drop me a pm

It's so variable

Some trusts have (generally) shorter lists than others, so specialities definitely have shorter lists, as do some procedures.

It's the first triaging in the hospital that is key (routine v urgent) but the consultants may well not know typical length of waiting time for each.

Elective work which might help move the lists along really needs to be happening year round.

But instead we reduce even what capacity we have by letting infectious diseases run largely unchecked (beds taken up by those ill, or taken for longer if they catch something in hospital; plus staff sickness - and it goes beyond "just" the winter virus season now).

the Hospital hasn't even reviewed mine, must be sitting there at the bottom of a pile

My son was referred for an urgent referral and the wait is 11 months for a first appointment. Fuck knows how long until scans and tests start after that.

Always good to ' check ' on the referals

Always good to correspond with hosp secretaries

Always good to report new pain or symptons to gp

I'm thinking of joining BUPA through work... does anyone know if they would take my referral even though was made before I joined?

Depends on the policy type, but pre-existing conditions can be completely excluded, or have cover limited, or lead to higher premiums

You'd have to declare incomplete medical investigations, and it could lead to either an exclusion or an adjustment (or should that be "hike") in price.

So the (rather unsatisfactory) answer is that you'll have to ask the company.

And you may as well do so because failure to declare relevant medical info when taking out health insurance is a form of fraud. If it comes to light (which it may, as claims early in policy life tend to get scrutinised) and you're lucky they'll just refuse your claim, bill you the full amount, rescind your policy and blacklist you. If less lucky, then they prosecute.

I’m sorry this is me just replying to you. I’ve seen my GP 4 times since then, my symptoms are getting worse, passing out, thunderclap headaches, getting lost when I’m going out. My gp has told me he can’t do anything because it has to be a neurologist that deals with it. To make things worse the report I got had a different diagnosis to the report I got. My last appointment my gp told me if I feel really unwell or have very intense symptoms to just go to A&E. last night I had to go, my blood pressure was 204/123, I was sent home and told they couldn’t pass it on to neurology because it wasn’t neurological. I’m at my wits end. I’m still on the urgent nhs list. I can’t afford any more private treatment, I’m still replaying the last loan back to my friend and I can’t work because I’m so unwell. It’s a total shambles. I’m only 44 and terrified this is the rest of my life.

yes it is frightening and the mental stress waiting for referrals and appoinmtments is all so wrong when you have paid for this in advance
where will it all in end = people must be dying needlessly