NHS - how long until my appointment at a back clinic at my local hospital?

[Snelly]

Delighted to hear from the NHS this morning. My GP has referred me to a back clinic with a suspected ruptured disc. The letter he wrote them said it was an urgent case as I am in constant pain, struggling to drive or sit for extended periods, can't play sport, getting fat and depressed about it etc. etc.

They have come back to me with an appointment date and it is 20 weeks from today. 5 *&^%$£@ months. I phoned to see if I could possibly get this moved forwards to one of the 40% of appointments that people don't bother to turn up to every day in hospitals across the UK. I said I am five minutes from Worthing hospital and could get there really quickly as soon as a slot became available or if there was a cancellation on the day. Not possible they said - "we can't just treat people who come in at short notice."

The same wait again after I have seen someone to get in for an MRI scan as a next step.

Utterly useless. There must be some quite amazing incompetence at play if the managers that run these departments cannot come up with a smarter way of doing things. Pathetic.

Or of course, I can spend £1,000 and see a consultant and have a scan next week. Great. Ah well, no summer holiday this year kids......

:sbox::sbox::angry::angry::angry::angry::angry::angry:

 

[FairwayDodger]

A few years ago I was referred to an ENT consultant by my GP. I think the appointment was three months away, which was a problem since I was completely unable to breathe through my nose at the time. So I went private and got an appointment three days later, with the same consultant, in the same hospital.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

One of the many problems with the NHS is that is stuck with the thinking of all NHS people over the last 50 years. Most managers have come through the system and so have the same blinkered outlook. There are many modern ways of improving what they offer, your suggestion is a simple and sensible one for example, but they wont look at them because "it is not how we do things". Maybe it should be.

Best of luck in sorting your back out.

 

[Doon frae Troon]

We really do need to embrace a £100 fine for those patients who fail to turn up for an appoinment.

 

[TigerIsAmazing]

coincidentally I was also seeing the GP re a lower back issue, possibly disc or possibly sciatic nerve- all tests done and results back within 10 days. Like you driving and sitting and standing for periods an issue.

Reffered to back clinic and this is where the GP said "I wouldnt bother, the wait is so long its embarrassing" so we are not even going to request one and recommended I go private. Fine if you have insurance which most large companies offer I believe, but no use if you dont, I don't so will seek (with Dr's recommendation) an alternate method.

Hope you get yours sorted soon as it's a debilitating pain.

 

[Ethan]

Delighted to hear from the NHS this morning. My GP has referred me to a back clinic with a suspected ruptured disc. The letter he wrote them said it was an urgent case as I am in constant pain, struggling to drive or sit for extended periods, can't play sport, getting fat and depressed about it etc. etc.

They have come back to me with an appointment date and it is 20 weeks from today. 5 *&^%$£@ months. I phoned to see if I could possibly get this moved forwards to one of the 40% of appointments that people don't bother to turn up to every day in hospitals across the UK. I said I am five minutes from Worthing hospital and could get there really quickly as soon as a slot became available or if there was a cancellation on the day. Not possible they said - "we can't just treat people who come in at short notice."

The same wait again after I have seen someone to get in for an MRI scan as a next step.

Utterly useless. There must be some quite amazing incompetence at play if the managers that run these departments cannot come up with a smarter way of doing things. Pathetic.

Or of course, I can spend £1,000 and see a consultant and have a scan next week. Great. Ah well, no summer holiday this year kids......

:sbox::sbox::angry::angry::angry::angry::angry::angry:

You are right to be angry. My wife is an NHS Consultant (nothing to do with backs or scans, though) but like all her colleagues she is drowning in increasing paperwork getting in the way of seeing and treating patients. All the GPs I know are planning to retire as soon as they can reasonably can, or if younger to emigrate to Canada or NZ. Hospital waiting lists are managed by admin people who don't really care about you or your back, and they are happy with high DNA (Did Not Attend) rates because it reduces costs incurred by the Trust. They also bounce referrals if there is a minor and clinically unimportant piece of information missing or incorrectly filled in. It is not incompetence, it is worse than that, it is intentional.

It is sometimes true that it is impossible to treat short notice patients - perhaps a medicine needs to be made up specially or the patient needs some preparatory treatment for a special scan or something, but for assessment of a disc problem, I would have thought that a short notice appointment would be fine.

 

[Khamelion]

Similar thing, wor lass has some lady issues, which need seeing to, her GP appointment was back end of Jan beginning Feb. After waiting for weeks to find out when she'll be going in, she called and got a preliminary date of beginning June, like the OP, 5 months from referral to actual operation.

 

[Rooter]

Just to show balance, my youngest has had hearing issues for a while, ENT consultant was seen after about a month, decided to have grommets fitted. Operation was done 1 week after as there was a space!

I have nothing but praise for the way my kids have been handled. We have had 2 x grommet operations, a tonsillectomy, 3 broken arms and 4 pneumonia's. All dealt with quickly, with fantastic people. Maybe we are just lucky?

 

[Fish]

I have to say I had nothing but an excellent experience yesterday at Warwick Hospital and everything I could see and hear going on around me with others was nothing short of excellent and hugely professional also.

I walked into A&E around 9am, there was 1 person in the waiting room, I sat down, texted the boss & wife and was duly called into a cubicle within 2mins. I was then looked at thoroughly and the male nurse wanted some second opinions, within a few minutes I had no less than 3 different consultants and specialists come look at my hand which had been tourniquet to stop the blood and then injected and frozen so they could look at the tendons, it was agreed I needed to go to theatre.

Moved to the X-ray department and waited around 15mins max, moved them to the changing rooms in surgery where paperwork was completed and then had my longest wait of around 1hr before going and having the operation on my hand which took a couple of hours. Back to a day recovery ward, cuppa tea & biscuit, clothes arrived with 10mins, signed some more paperwork and off I went on my way.

Superb service throughout :clap:

 

[Foxholer]

Going by your signature, I think I've spotted the cause!

Horrendous delay for the first appointment though! Worth getting in touch with your local MP - or other candidates? They'll be particularly sensitive about such things this month!

 

[Jimaroid]

Just to show balance, ... Maybe we are just lucky?

No, I think you've just perfectly described the problems with the NHS. There's no consistency, for every brilliant story there's an awful one. It's a lottery based on location and ailment. I have nothing but respect for the people working hard in the NHS, the simple problem is that the NHS is understaffed and underfunded. Demand is exceeding supply and it's only going to get worse because so many preventative services are being shutdown.

 

[Snelly]

No, I think you've just perfectly described the problems with the NHS. There's no consistency, for every brilliant story there's an awful one. It's a lottery based on location and ailment. I have nothing but respect for the people working hard in the NHS, the simple problem is that the NHS is understaffed and underfunded. Demand is exceeding supply and it's only going to get worse because so many preventative services are being shutdown.

Understaffed? Every time I am in a hospital I am staggered at the number of admin people in the departmental offices who seem to do nothing but chat to each other about Coronation Street and discuss who makes the next round of teas. They don't need to be there and are adding no value.

We need nurses, doctors and specialists. Not managers and useless jobsworth admin types.

 

[Jimaroid]

Understaffed? We need nurses, doctors and specialists. Not managers and useless jobsworth admin types.

So you get rid of the managers and admin staff. Who does the admin in their absence? The nurses and doctors have to stop treating patients because they're doing the paperwork. Sound familiar?

I'm sorry you're having problems with your appointment, you have my sympathies, but blaming the staff who don't have the resources to deal with the demands they face isn't fair.

Disclosure: my wife is a doctor in the NHS.

 

[Snelly]

So you get rid of the managers and admin staff. Who does the admin in their absence? The nurses and doctors have to stop treating patients because they're doing the paperwork. Sound familiar?

I'm sorry you're having problems with your appointment, you have my sympathies, but blaming the staff who don't have the resources to deal with the demands they face isn't fair.

Disclosure: my wife is a doctor in the NHS.

I am speaking anecdotally. Every time I am in a hospital and near a departmental office, I see an overstaffed workplace with a total lack of urgency and hard work. Maybe I have just been unlucky and it is a coincidence? Maybe as soon as I am not there, the tea break ends and everyone starts working at fantastic speed and with unprecedented efficiency?

Maybe not.

 

[PhilTheFragger]

Go back to your doctor and say that you are having bladder issues and numbness in your feet with the back pain
this is a known danger symptom, the likelyhood is that your doc will get things moving if you present thus

buy some Tena for Men pads and wear them to the appt.

I had a prolapsed disc about 9 years ago, after lots of too-ing & fro-ing I had a discectomy which solved the problem, but I was a cripple for months on oral morphine.
If they offer a long lasting Epidural injection, PM me as I have a horror story

Good Luck

 

[AmandaJR]

I was chatting to the father of a young talented golfer last week who is struggling with a shoulder injury. He has paid for a private consulatation and of course an MRI is recommended at £600. The consultant said he'd try and pull some strings for a quicker than normal MRI on the NHS and now they have an appointment 10 days later...

Not sure how all the hierarchy works but seems strings can be pulled and shows further inconsistencies in treatment times.

 

[chrisd]

Some years ago a consultant told me that reasons similar to yours were not "urgent" so I changed tack and told him that if I didn't get my knee fixed I would have to close my business and put several people out of work - I went in only a few weeks later

 

[TigerIsAmazing]

I was chatting to the father of a young talented golfer last week who is struggling with a shoulder injury. He has paid for a private consulatation and of course an MRI is recommended at £600. The consultant said he'd try and pull some strings for a quicker than normal MRI on the NHS and now they have an appointment 10 days later...

Not sure how all the hierarchy works but seems strings can be pulled and shows further inconsistencies in treatment times.

of course they can, in any industry or walk of life, its not what you know but who you know sometimes.

 

[SocketRocket]

Knock up the population by 4 million and what do you expect to happen.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Knock up the population by 4 million and what do you expect to happen.

Had a bet with myself that it wouldnt be long until the population increase was blamed

Anyway - along with Rooter and Fishi can only say good things about the hospital near us

4 years ago my wife had issues - had a scan in 2 weeks , results within a week and an Op booked for 1 week after that - all done within a month.

I had asthma issues last year - xray and tests within 2 weeks also and results within the week and book for a speclist a week after.

Couple of guys i play golf with have had their hip replacements with the same hospital and all done within 6 months.