NHS waiting times

[Hiking_Girl]

After too-slow responses from my GP surgery/local hospital I eventually paid privately for scans and a consultation with the RBH (London) surgeon who is going to replace my aortic valve on the NHS. It has taken 10 months to get to this point. I'm in category P3 so should now wait no more than 3 further months for the op but there's going to be a delay and I've been told it will be a 5-6 month wait. Ah well, at least I know. I've seen that one or two people here are anxious about why they haven't been called forward yet so I hope it helps to have it confirmed that even the mighty heart hospitals are feeling the effects of That Virus, flu and NHS strikes. They haven't forgotten us. ❤️‍🩹 Is it the same in other parts of the UK?

[Hiking_Girl]

The surgeon said they had just started to get back on track after C19 when the nurses' strikes started, and junior doctors are expected to take action soon too, so this is why delays are building again. His frustration was clear but he mentioned that staff are donating food to nurses and understands why they are striking.

[Hiking_Girl]

😂 No worries! I'll leave my reply there anyway.

[bridgeit]

It certainly seems to be the case with Cambridge Addenbrooke's. I was due for a review in July 2022 and am still waiting for a neurosurgery clinic appointment. I am also overdue a repeat echocardiogram with cardiology. Apparently, I am definitely "in the system" re neurosurgery. I have no idea about the status of the echo appt. I've also just had a letter to apologize about ENT appointments being 12 months overdue. I've given up on a review with ENT, they are overwhelmed and cannot fix my tinnitus anyway. I've advised them to close my case. Not exactly reassuring, but it's the best they seem to be able to offer. No point in pushing for the other appointments; I just have to wait alongside everybody else and hope my issues hold up OK meanwhile.

According to a friend of mine, a reliable source, Papworth, which is a major specialist cardio-thoracic centre just next door to Adders, is being run ragged. No bed space and That Virus still causing issues.... It's the lack of bed space that's causing surgery delay problems - not to mention staff shortages affecting everything including outpatients.

I think these delays are a patient-critical and GB nationwide NHS problem. It's collapsing in on itself it seems to me - and being allowed to do so.

Ooops. I'm in danger of sliding into politics! Yes, I think this is a nationwide problem! 🤔

[Csoguy1]

It’s definitely like this in most parts of the country

[Hiking_Girl]

Update: at the end of April I was told I would be unlikely to have surgery before Christmas, another 8 months away. This made it very easy to finally decide to go private and I had a mini sternotomy and AVR at the Cleveland Clinic in May. All went well and the mental relief was huge.