A long waiting time : Three months now... - British Liver Trust

British Liver Trust

38,081 members18,674 posts

A long waiting time

wp69 profile image
wp69
14 Replies

Three months now from my discharge where I was diagnosed with cirrhosis , and have been put under the umbrella of my health board , was diagnosed whilst working away , I had received a letter stating that I have been referred as an urgent referral , so today after no contact with them , I telephoned the appointments department to see if I was anywhere close to being seen , the answer was , that as an urgent ‼️ referral , it should only take 7 months , was bit taken aback with that , has any one here gone down the private route to speed things up , many thanks , Will

Written by
wp69 profile image
wp69
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
14 Replies
Ewife profile image
Ewife

We went private initially, and were referred to Leeds by this consultant after the bleed my husband had. Definately worked in our favour- our local hospital isn't great. We were lucky we had insurance which covered us though...could be quite costly if you haven't. Involves a lot of initial tests and scans.....including endoscopy.

wp69 profile image
wp69 in reply toEwife

Ive had all them when hospitalised , thanks for the reply

cammeag profile image
cammeag

Have you been to see your GP? Are they aware of what happened when you were away as records are not always passed. GI departments tend to speed up only in emergencies. You could go private and if there is anything urgent or critical it will speed up referral, or if you think you understand what is going on with your health, you could use the intervening months before your appointment to live a life that gives you the best chance of being given a positive result. You mentioned before that you had cirrhosis…if you are still drinking then that will definitely not help when you finally get seen, but the great thing about our health is we normally get to decide what direction we can take it in. All the best.

wp69 profile image
wp69 in reply tocammeag

Spoke to the referral team and they said 7 months for urgent referrals , not drinking and eating healthily

cammeag profile image
cammeag in reply towp69

Obviously it is your choice if you want to have that type of lifestyle. If you want to give an alternative lifestyle an opportunity, you may be surprised at the results…but as i said, it’s paramount that what we do is our own personal choice. If you want any help with change or maybe looking at a 12 step programme etc, feel free to PM me. Take care.

CHanse profile image
CHanse in reply tocammeag

cammeag, I read wp69’s reply as not drinking and eating healthily in the positive. As in I’m not drinking and I’m eating healthily but I can see how it can also read in the negative

cammeag profile image
cammeag in reply toCHanse

I just sent a PM off to WP apologising🤦‍♂️, thanks for pointing that out to me 👍

wp69 profile image
wp69 in reply toCHanse

Thanks , I can see now how it can be misinterpreted LOL.

Bumpity profile image
Bumpity

Please be aware that if you go private, the private clinic may well ignore the results of any test you had done on the NHS. They may insist on everything starting from scratch which will be very expensive if you do not have a health care plan which covers your illness.

I was about to go private for a different health issue and spoke to my GP who advised that he will not support me in any way if I run out of money as, he is not there to pick up the pieces if I choose to jump the waiting list (Shorter version of his words).

At the end of the day, private clinics are there to make money as they have no NHS funding to pay for Doctors etc.,

wp69 profile image
wp69 in reply toBumpity

I thought about this last night after writing the post , I needed an endoscope about 7 years ago , waiting list was horrendous , so I asked to go privately , so I was expecting to go to a private hospital , had consultation a few miles from my local hospital and asked where would the procedure take place , I was stunned when the answer was , oh at the local hospital , im an NHS consultant but Thursday afternoons I have my own private clinic in the hospital , so everything was done in the local hospital but just had to pay for it , it was very strange.

Bumpity profile image
Bumpity

That's pretty disgusting, getting all of the money from private patients but getting using the much cheaper facilities of an NHS hospital. But, at least you had the endoscope done quickly. Take care.

wp69 profile image
wp69 in reply toBumpity

Exactly my thoughts , when paying for something done privately , you expect to go to a private hospital , basically I jus jumped the queue , like I said , very strange.

Roy1955 profile image
Roy1955 in reply towp69

Part of what you pay goes to the NHS hospital coffers.Usualy you get an invoice from the consultant and a seperate invoice for using the NHS room.

Then another one for any equipment used during the exam/treatment.

Almost all NHS hospitals allow consultants to use them for private patients and charge the consultant "rent"!

wp69 profile image
wp69 in reply toRoy1955

Your probably correct , but I can only recall one invoice at the time , thanks for shading light on the matter

Not what you're looking for?

You may also like...

Finally a diagnosis

It's a long boring story bu back in june I was told that I have cirrhosis. My gp requested an...

Long haul flights

Hi all Does anyone have any advice on long haul flights/ cruising. We should have gone on a...
Ruby1960 profile image

PBC Waiting time...

just wondering on average how long you waited. I have PBC and have been on the list 10 months with...
Bbsmom profile image

Fibroscan result waiting time?

Please can somebody tell me how long it takes to receive results for a fibroscan? I started this...
Trotter2024 profile image

Waiting diagnosis

Hi all,my sixteen year old daughter has been ill for three months. First the gp said it was a...
Sam--- profile image

Moderation team

See all

Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.

Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.