NHS waiting list 18 week guarantee

[supercatlady]

Linked to another post - has anyone successfully managed to exercise this entitlement?
https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/hospitals/guide-to-nhs-waiting-times-in-england/

Weve been directed from GP to Hospital to ICB to PALS and round and round in circles. Now been waiting 2.5 years for so called urgent investigations into suitability for orthopaedic surgery.

It’s a tricky one to actually enforce because of the rules on what “day 1” is and also there are exceptions, e.g. if weight loss would be beneficial then that delays the timeframe.

Orthopaedic surgery is massively backlogged, you can ask to be referred to another hospital with a shorter waiting time but you’d have to figure that out. Realistically if you’ve been waiting for something for 2.5 years then it’s unlikely to be anything urgent and you’re probably just making a fuss for not getting your way. Your GP isn’t an orthopaedic surgeon and they probably said they sent your referral “urgently” really that was likely to get you out of their room.

Also, day 1 of your referral is when you are referred to the hospital. They can’t take into account if you had this problem since 1999 and only got referred yesterday.

Well the orthopaedic surgeon actually referred for this procedure and it was he who said it was urgent. My 30 year old daughter is suffering chronic and debilitating pain and is now unable to work. So yes, I’d say that’s pretty urgent too.
yes it’s not life threatening (though she has felt suicidal at times) but no one should have to live like this.
The 18 week wait is for any consultant led treatment anyway, if the clock starts from referral from GP it’s more like 2yrs 9 months wait.

Yeah and you think the orthopaedic surgeon doesn’t know their own waiting times? They’ve said urgent, it protects them if anything happens while your daughter is waiting, that way you sue the trust and not them.

Unfortunately that is the reality of NHS waiting times. Bloated.

Also there is only, routine, urgent, cancer in terms of pathways, so again you can see why the urgent waiting list is long, system is broken. That’s mainly the fault of over a decade of Tory leadership.

So advice is either, sit and do nothing, pay for private or search online and go to another hospital for treatment.