Check for basal cell carcinoma - appt a year from now!

[PaperbackWrighter]

I've recently had a lesion on the crown of my head looked at by GP who's referred me to Dermatology to check it's not a basal cell carcinoma. (It's been there since 2022 and was originally believed to be a wart - one GP still thinks it might be.) As BCCs don't metastasise, and take a very long time to grow, you don't go on the urgent pathway - I was told I'd wait a few months to be seen. Next day, the appt came through for nearly a year from now - Aug 2026!

I've spoken to the GP and there's regretfully nothing they can do - all I can try is ringing Dermatology on a fairly regular basis and hope for a cancellation somewhere along the 12 months. My GP will also monitor for changes for me every 3 months (as I can't see it to monitor myself) and expedite if anything changes.

Or I could pay £200 for a private consultation - if it isn't a BCC and she confirms it's a wart, happy days! If not, and they suggest removing to find out, could cost me about £1,600-£2k

Has anyone had experience of BCC and or long waiting lists? It's grown from 3mm to 6mm since March 2023 so not growing fast.

If you go private and they find something, can't you go back to NHS?
I have fair, freckled skin and probably need to get various bits checked out...

I’m going to a large branch of Boots next week to get a mole checked. £40 and quicker than seeing GP.

Maybe I'll stop being an ostrich and go to Boots some time!

I had a similarly ridiculous long wait to be seen on the NHS. Fortunately we have private health cover so I had it dealt with promptly.

I don't think so @EmeraldJeanie becos the private dermatologist would probably only confirm what it was by taking if off, and that's where the costs add up - histology, hospital charges including use of a nurse etc. There's a chance though she might look at it and say no I can tell it's definitely not basal cell carcinoma, it's a wart, and that would be great becos then I'd only be £200 down from the consultation fee, and have avoided a 1 year wait to find out the same! Chances are though I'll face costs of about £1800 to remove and check what it was.

Was it for BCC too and did it turn out to be that @crankyhousewife - I so regret not having private health insurance but am uninsurable now after having had breast cancer, caught early but that won't reassure insurance companies sadly!

I've just been to my GP with a strange thing on my arm. I have loads of moles, skin tags and freckles but this one just seems wrong. Told to use hydrocortisone and moisturiser and go back in 6 weeks if no better or sooner if worse.
Guess they aren't urgent but a year seems mad!

My husband is on the waiting list for the waiting list to have his BCC removed. They reckon he wont get an appointment for at least 2 years. Then there will be a wait to have it removed.

I was referred to an nhs dermatologist and told I had a wart. 10 years later, watching it grow, I decided paid for a private Derm who took a biopsy - it’s a BCC. It’s not terrible as it’s slow growing but honestly I’m sticking to private dermatology from now on (pale skin that tans moderately well, grew up in a sunny country). I won’t risk being misdiagnosed on the nhs again.

@LuckysDadsHat that's terrible! If you don't mind my asking, where is it? Mine's on the crown of my head and I can't see it. How does your DH feel about it?

His is on his chest and leg. He's not happy but we cant afford the 3.5k to have it removed privately and our GP surgery doesnt remove them.

That does seem a particulary long wait.

When you say originally believed to be a wart, was this your GP who thought this or have you previously been referred and had it checked.

I waited 4 weeks for an appointment and 2 weeks for results, turned out is was a wart, but even the Dermatologist couldn't tell this without taking a sample for analysis.

Id leave the nhs referral in place and pay £200 to find out. Then you can decide what to do.
Im too old for private health insurance to be sensible but just spend on the odd scan etc here and there.

I wouldn’t be asking Boots! What skills does a pharmacist have, compared to a doctor, in this area?

@PaperbackWrighter Not sure how helpful this will be but I'll share my NHS experience just in case. I was referred to dermatology by my GP who suspected I had a BCC on my upper lip. It was at that point tiny, maybe 2mm. I was seen with a couple of weeks by a dermatologist who wasn't 100% sure and biopsied. Biopsy indicated BCC and that removal was necessary.

Then the wait started... Months went by. On a number of occasions I enquired about progress. Each time I was shown a massive level arch folder full of paperwork and simply told I was nowhere near the top of the pile. About a year later I was referred to a hospital miles out of my catchment area. Didn't mind that. Was relieved to finally be seen. Arrived at that appointment to be told they didn't know why I'd been referred to them, it wasn't their area of specialism. They referred me on again. Was impossible to chase up from this point as nobody seemed to know where I'd been referred to.

Almost another year went by. By this time the "slow-growing" BCC was much bigger, getting close to 10mm, constantly bleeding and very unsightly. Finally I received an appointment from another hospital two hours away. The consultant surgeon there was really confused as to why I'd ended up with them, three counties away! But it was a specialist hospital and the surgeon did a fantastic job of removing the BCC (local anaesthetic but in an operating theatre with a full team) without causing too much scarring. However, the scarring is still pretty extensive.

The whole rigmarole from start to finish took just over two years. The surgeon was genuinely horrified that I'd had to wait so long and said that if I'd been referred to him in the first place he would have removed the lesion there and then in his office at the initial appointment, regardless of whether or not it was a BCC, and with zero scarring. He said I have a very high chance of having another one on my face as it was caused by sun damage and to ask to be referred to him directly if that happened. If that wasn't possible I would 100% pay to see him in his private practice.

A BCC that was very small and completely hidden I might consider going through the standard NHS process again but I would be much much more proactive with chasing progress and putting my name on any cancellation list that might be available.

Thank you so much for sharing that @Gathererofnews that is v interesting - and alarming. Sorry to hear you went through this mammoth wait to have it treated. I suppose I hadn't considered the fact that my August 2026 appt is only the start of it and the consultation, not the removal, then I guess I could wait another year from the sounds of things!

And @LuckysDadsHat - in the same way I hadn't thought that, like your DH, I guess I'm on a waiting list for a waiting list. Yes, 3.5K to remove both is a lot.

@mumto2teenagers it was another GP at the surgery, back in 2022, who diagnosed it as a wart, then another who checked it in 2023 said the same. I was supposed to go back if it got bigger but honestly how do you tell if you can't see it and can only feel it (on the top of my head). Other health stuff happened too, and I just forgot. But now a third GP says it's bigger (6mm from 3mm) and has a patchwork of blood vessels across it which is why she wants it checking.

That's good advice @NewsdeskJC - at least I'll have more of an expert opinion when I see my private person (who also happens to work at the NHS dept I'd be seen at). Perhaps if she thinks it might be a BCC but doesn't look too scary I can just hang on and keep trying for cancellations etc by ringing up NHS.

Crikey @Slowgrowingelm I'm not surprised you don't trust NHS dermatology now! Glad you got it sorted out in the end though.

My husband was in this position and the cancer was next to his eye and bleeding onto the pillow. In the end we went private and had it removed. It cost £1,800, it was a shame we had to do this, but it was actually a dangerous position for BCC

That is a long wait time.
My bcc were managed via a community service ( gps with specialty training, who also have a dermatologist working with them). For me, within two months of the initial gp appt, I'd had a dermatology review and the surgery performed.
Perhaps because yours is on your head, you need dermatology in an acute hospital setting. I imagine the wait times will be a lot longer for that.

I had one on my scalp. Had it removed privately: Timeline: GP said BCC and referred me on NHS against my wishes. So I had to find a surgeon who would see me without a referral from NHS. That turned out to be easy. At first consultation (about £250) he said he didn't think it was anything but I needed a biopsy anyway. Could have had that done more cheaply at any number of skin clinics in my town but decided to stick with surgeon. Biopsy was £1200 I think. Result was BCC but the edges of biopsy weren't clear so I needed a second op with skin graft (£3000 IIRC) . Very simple surgeries, painless under local anaesthetic. After all that, which took a couple of months, I called the NHS to cancel and they hadn't even got round to reading my GPs referral. The wait to first appointment would have been a year and then another wait for surgery.

Edit: forgot to say: surgeon told me a BCC on the scalp, well away from my face was "low risk".

I went to the doctor in the July with a spot. Seen a month or so later for photographs. Another appointment for them to look at it and the photos. Another appointment for the biopsy. A long wait for results. Then a pre op appointment. Then the op. Took a year in total. But they are slow growing and not very dangerous so I didn't care much.

THE WORST BIT was that after that initial GP appointment I was then officially 'awaiting diagnosis ' - which is an absolute pain for travelling and travel insurance. You can not use regular travel insurance you find online. Had to get special insurance each time. Honestly that was the most irritating bit. And don't risk it - don't break your leg slipping over on a beach holiday to find out your insurance won't pay out because you didn't declare a harmless spot. Which they will refuse to do, leaving you with a bill for tens of thousands potentially.

Good luck op. Id probably wait it out. Even if you get a private diagnosis you'll have to wait for the op.

Nhs very good with me. Good surgery and hospital every other day for a couple of weeks to get the dressing changed until I could do it myself (mine was in an awkward and obvious place)

@abracadabra1980 how was boots with this? Thinking about using the service and was looking for other people’s experiences. Thank you. Hope you’re ok.