I have been told today that I need a stent fitted and I wondered usually how long it will be approx until it is done. My cardiology department are playing catch up at present so I suspect it could be a while!
Waiting Times: I have been told today... - British Heart Fou...
Waiting Times
The wait should depend on urgency. More urgent should be taken first. These are strange times. In the past, I have found it helped to tell them you can come in any time (if you can!), if they get a late cancellation. That worked once in our small DGH, with only one cath-lab. Didn’t work in the much larger Cardiac Centre I go to now.
After a heart attack and two stents fitted immediately I waited a month for a second angiogram. However that was before C and the present delays. Phone and ask and say you can go on the cancellation list. Itwill probably depend on how urgent it is.
It really depends on so many factors. I had my first angioplasty in February 2021, on the morning of my heart attack. I was told then that I would need more stents but they wanted to do more tests beforehand and also needed things to settle a bit after the HA, that it would probably be 5 months wait. This was through the height of covid, of course. The 5 months were spent going back to the hospital having all sorts of things done, testing checking etc. Then 5 months later, almost to the day, I was taken in and stented.
It's not always a question of them being busy or having a backlog, sometimes they need to let things settle and to then check out what is the best to do
My wait was about 2 weeks (Oct. 2021) but it was a cancellation at a days notice. Keep your phone handy.