how long do referrals take?

[Pinkyboo28]

have been referred to respiratory doctor at a hospital I’m not sure where just keep being told I’ve been referred but I can’t see any referrals on my nhs app. I guess each area and hospital is different with waiting lists. How long did it take for you untill u where seen at the hospital?

[Homely2 Administrator]

You need to find out who you have been referred to. Maybe ring your GP reception and see if they will tell you, and give you some contact details.

My local hospital respiratory department in theory has a nine month wait. But both times I have been referred they have seen me sooner.

The first time it was a two month wait, with no effort on my part.

The second time it was four weeks or so, but I had to very nicely chase it up, and give them a good reason. My Asthma nurse, unofficially, told me how to sort it.

When secondary hospital referred me to a tertiary hospital, it was a three months wait with no effort on my part.

If you know where you have been referred to, and have heard nothing after six weeks or so or so, maybe

politely and nicely follow it up. Make it clear you can do a short notice appointment.

[Jasmine222]

Hi! Ring the hospital you are being referred to and ask. Exeter told me they had a 16 month wait for non urgent. Whilst waiting, my GP put in two urgent expedite requests and I now have an appointment end of January! that will be a total of 9 months. And I wasn't quiet waiting! I wrote, emailed and rang to try and get an appointment quicker as I couldn't believe the wait, and well you know I need to breathe! To make matters worse my GP won't alter my meds to help me until the consultant sees me. Good luck. Persevere. I hope your story is different to mine.

Edit: added to say. The nurses here are great and gave me so much help and support, so thank you x

[Lexybabe]

hi I am new to the forum but my waiting time at the RCH (Truro) will be 25 weeks from referral to appointment due on 17th December - the most annoying point for me is the NHS app states RCH respiratory clinic is 13 weeks (it changes weekly) so when I raised with RCH that I was 20 weeks waiting, I was basically told the app is wrong! It might be wrong, but I was pinning my hopes on being seen within this timeline and became more frustrated when 13 weeks came and past! The GP surgery wrote again to the clinic chasing my appointment, I complained to RCH customer experience, got ignored, complained again to the Chief Exec and had a phone call offering me an appointment, but telling me I am very lucky to be offered an appointment at 25 weeks! Hope your pathway runs more smoothly, don’t give up hope and try contacting the secretaries at the respiratory clinic! Good luck!

[Chip_y2kuk]

It entirely depends on the area and the hospital..anything from 6 weeks to a year

I was seen at respiratory unit in St Helens within 6 weeks of being reffered(before covid) my little girl was told alder hays respiratory department had a 9 month waiting list .... after nearly a year we called and where told she was in the system but hadn't been allocated an appointment because they where really busy ... it was nearly a year after referral we where seen

[Jolu29]

Hi yes chase everything up, you cam get GP to write letter get earlier appointment. My GP did this with Guys and was seen earlier.

[Poshcards]

Hi, I have been waiting since last April to see one at Glenfield Hospital x

[runcyclexcski in reply to Poshcards]

Same here with Glenfield. I had to go private to see a specialist quickly. He had a double affiliation with Glenfield, so after seeing me privately he put me into the NHS system. Saved me at least 6 months.

[Fix21]

I went straight under the local hospital respiratory team when my asthma got bad but that's because I had lots of a&e trips and admissions. The local hospital then referred me to a specialist centre and it took 5 months to see the specialist consultant. I had a couple of appointments during this 5 month wait. One with a physio and one for breathing tests. I think it varies a lot but I felt I really had to chase. I was told they are under a lot of pressure so there are long waiting times - too many patients and referrals for their capacity.

[Patk1]

I would ring Yr hospital appointment booking dept - they'll give u waiting time,if yr on system and whn u can expect to be seen

[Stewiecat]

Hi, I saw your post and just wanted to echo what others have said, chase up gp to find out which hospital you have been referred to, generally it's a 9-12 month wait for addenbrookes in Cambridgeshire, if you are able to wait they are fantastic when you finally get there, After a year of gp/asthma nurse appalling treatment i became so desperate for help in Dec 2022 i paid to be seen privately, literally a 5 day wait from enquiry, yes it's expensive, with Consultant costs, CT scan, full allergy bloods, and breathing physio referral we put £3k on a credit card, BUT he knew from gp blood results what was wrong with me immediately! I had 2 months on prednisolone, 3 sessions of breathing physio, consultant meetings e