NHS Scotland waiting times

[Ignoringthedishes]

Feeling pretty low to discover there is a 70 week wait time for my 'urgent referral', meaning I still have over a year to go before I'm seen.

I moved back to Scotland following a decade in London and can't believe how terrible the NHS is in comparison. I've already had to take my child to be seen privately due to a similar wait time (18 months) for a medical issue identified at birth.

When did it get so bad?! Is private healthcare the only solution?

I've gone privately recently for two health issues, one was waiting time-related, but the other was being misdiagnosed on the NHS. The wait times in my area of Scotland are absolutely ridiculous.

I've just been checking quotes for private cover, £68 a month for family but won't cover my existing condition.....ugh.

It got so bad when the Scottish government prioritised independence over health and education

Sorry you are experiencing this. Even before Covid, my urgent referral to ENT was 5months. I went private, and yes it was cancer. But could not be treated privately ( even if I could have paid)

The NHS kicked in at that point and were great, but even my gp advocated for private diagnosis.

Hope you can get a speedier resolution Op.

That's awful - I hope your treatment went well @Dearg.

Right, private it is I guess.

Thank you @Ignoringthedishes . All well. In remission for 5 years now.

Yeah a 2 year wait for dermatology in NHS Lothian. Rheumatology saw me in 17 weeks. At one point it was guaranteed you would be seen in 18 weeks.

It gets even better...NOT!

Three week waiting list for a blood test and that will be done in a Community Hub, and not by a nurse at the GP surgery, as happened last year.

Physiotherapy done by phone call and a link to exercises online.

I haven't been seen f2f by a GP in 3 years and the last time I phoned my GP practice, the person calling me back was a PA (with a 2 year medical qualification!!!!) So many people are now going private that there's a waiting list to get a private GP appointment in my area.

Back to add that a friend is on an 18 month waiting list for a hip operation.

There’s a 3 year waiting list for my DD to be assessed by CAHMS for autism. It’s terrible. Been told there’s no point going private as they wouldn’t accept it.

I was seen by a pelvic health physio in a couple of months about 5 years ago. I was referred back recently and got a letter saying the waiting list was 2 years!

In March 2023 DS (then aged 14) was referred to dermatology by the GP as they were concerned over a mole/mark on his face. GP said that this would be marked as urgent because he didn't know what it was, was probably nothing, but needed checked by an expert asap. DS is very fair skinned, red hair, freckles.

Our "urgent" appointment was in December 2023, and to be fair the hospital staff were brilliant, he had a full examination and photos taken, we were told it was almost certainly a blue nevus (benign) but that they'd call us back in 4-6 months to repeat the photos and make sure it's not growing.

Still waiting.

NHS all over the UK is a shambles but Scotland more shambolic than most. Not helped by the fact that Sturgeon kept us all locked down longer than other parts of the UK and scared the shit out of so many people that they put off seeing the doctor. My GP surgery was literally taped up with hazard tape until about June 2022.

The tax is making it really hard to fill consultant posts (they can be paying thousands and thousands more than they would in England)

This is all so depressing. In London we were served so well by the NHS and always seen within weeks - the clinic I am waiting 70 weeks for now would have seen me in a couple of months. The longest I waited was maybe five months immediately after covid due to the backlog.

The system there also gave you the freedom to log in and pick the hospital and consultant you wanted, and a date and time to suit you.

I know London is like a country of its own and that won't necessarily be the experience in the rest of England, but it's quite a shocking contrast.

We've been waiting 3.5 years so far for dd to see camhs, looks like we will be 4 years at least. Our GP has given her antidepressants but surely at 12 she should have camhs support. It's a bloody mess.

You can't really compare NHS Scotland with London. I don't relate to any of these posts about the "state" of the NHS in Scotland. I suppose it is very dependent on your health board.

I'm sorry to hear your experience hasn't been good.

Mine has been the opposite, I have access to a private GP through work and recently tried to get an appointment - my NHS GP could see my quicker, same day in-person compared with 3 days for a call back.

My partner has a long term condition and had had access to excellent specialist care.

My son has a sports injury and got ortho, physio and MRI all fairly quickly. Continues to have physio and they are going to refer him on for other sports therapy.

My grandparent got an op they needed at a private hospital but on the NHS to reduce wait times.

I cannot fault how the NHS has cared for my family. We do need to invest more, add capacity and treat the staff better.

That's good to hear. I have to say my local GP practice is excellent and I haven't struggled to get same day appointments for urgent issues when needed. Likewise both times I've taken kids to a&e we've been in and seen within a couple of hours. So I am very grateful for that, despite how negative I seem re-reading my above posts! I'm just feeling a bit sore and frustrated.

It’s a disgrace. I’ve been waiting for an orthopedics appointment for a year. My rheumatologist has said I need a hip replacement but the wait for that won’t start till I have been seen by orthopedics. In the meantime my back and knee are now damaged due to walking badly from hip pain. It feels hopeless.

It's shocking my GP's default part of their questioning conversation 9/10 includes do you have private health 🙄 FWIW and luckily I do via DH work policy however what I am currently being checked for isn't covered as the pathway is started within the NHS 🤦‍♀️

I feel quite lucky. I can always get a same or next day appointment with my GP. I've been referred to consultants a few times over the past few years and was always seen at the hospital within two weeks, with treatment/procedures within a week.

The only exception was gynae where I had to wait 8 months.

In all of this, the care and treatment has been superb.

I'm in Forth Valley area.

This is interesting on the differences in the 4 UK NHS systems
www.theguardian.com/society/2023/aug/14/which-uk-nation-has-got-the-longest-nhs-waiting-list

One of the DC has accidentally found out at a scan to have a missing kidney. Apparently it should have been picked up during the pregnancy anomaly scan - he is almost 14yo!

Anyway he has waited at least 24 weeks so far to see urology. It's ridiculous.

DS (eldest) still waiting to be seen by CAMHs. Almost 18 months now. Hope your DD gets seen very soon. Absolutely appalling state, not enough CAMHs staff.

This isn't my experience- I can always get a next day or same day GP appointment, elderly parents have all had to wait less than 8 weeks for treatment, referrals for non urgent things take longer but do happen.
CAMHS is broken though, and has been for years.