NHS waiting times
Hi so I have something wrong with the tendons in my hand and I think I'll probably need surgery for it at some point as it causes pain if I write or hold things for a long period of time (I was allowed to type my exams at A level). I'm hopefully going to uni to do medicine next year but I haven't been to the GP yet. I've seen the headlines of more people than ever waiting over a year for treatment but is there anywhere where I can find or anyone who knows how long Orthopaedic (I think this would be orthopaedic but I guess could be plastics either idk) wait times are?
Original post by Anonymous
Hi so I have something wrong with the tendons in my hand and I think I'll probably need surgery for it at some point as it causes pain if I write or hold things for a long period of time (I was allowed to type my exams at A level). I'm hopefully going to uni to do medicine next year but I haven't been to the GP yet. I've seen the headlines of more people than ever waiting over a year for treatment but is there anywhere where I can find or anyone who knows how long Orthopaedic (I think this would be orthopaedic but I guess could be plastics either idk) wait times are?
Your best bet would be contacting your GP, make an appointment, talk to them, find out exactly what's wrong and what would need to happen (if surgery is needed) and then you'll get an accurate wait time. Better to get it right from the source!
Original post by Anonymous
Hi so I have something wrong with the tendons in my hand and I think I'll probably need surgery for it at some point as it causes pain if I write or hold things for a long period of time (I was allowed to type my exams at A level). I'm hopefully going to uni to do medicine next year but I haven't been to the GP yet. I've seen the headlines of more people than ever waiting over a year for treatment but is there anywhere where I can find or anyone who knows how long Orthopaedic (I think this would be orthopaedic but I guess could be plastics either idk) wait times are?
there are lies being told about waiting times imo,
in early march i had an appointment with a plastic surgeon at an NHS hospital, she said she could fit me in a week later. i had the operation at st georges and had no problems getting a bed. there was only 2 people in my ward when i got there.., there was PLENTY OF space.
Original post by Anonymous
there are lies being told about waiting times imo,
in early march i had an appointment with a plastic surgeon at an NHS hospital, she said she could fit me in a week later. i had the operation at st georges and had no problems getting a bed. there was only 2 people in my ward when i got there.., there was PLENTY OF space.
in early march i had an appointment with a plastic surgeon at an NHS hospital, she said she could fit me in a week later. i had the operation at st georges and had no problems getting a bed. there was only 2 people in my ward when i got there.., there was PLENTY OF space.
I think it depends on where you are, your personal situation and the specific need you have.
Having said that, I was recently referred to Respiratory Medicine and it took two weeks from the referral being made to the appointment itself.
Original post by Anonymous
Hi so I have something wrong with the tendons in my hand and I think I'll probably need surgery for it at some point as it causes pain if I write or hold things for a long period of time (I was allowed to type my exams at A level). I'm hopefully going to uni to do medicine next year but I haven't been to the GP yet. I've seen the headlines of more people than ever waiting over a year for treatment but is there anywhere where I can find or anyone who knows how long Orthopaedic (I think this would be orthopaedic but I guess could be plastics either idk) wait times are?
You may not actually need surgery, let the doctors figure out what's necessary. Speak to your GP now though regardless because at least you'll be further along in getting what you need.
(edited 2 years ago)
Original post by Anonymous
there are lies being told about waiting times imo,
in early march i had an appointment with a plastic surgeon at an NHS hospital, she said she could fit me in a week later. i had the operation at st georges and had no problems getting a bed. there was only 2 people in my ward when i got there.., there was PLENTY OF space.
in early march i had an appointment with a plastic surgeon at an NHS hospital, she said she could fit me in a week later. i had the operation at st georges and had no problems getting a bed. there was only 2 people in my ward when i got there.., there was PLENTY OF space.
Plastic surgery is fairly niche i'd imagine? Perhaps the demand is for other stuff.
Original post by Siberiaan
Plastic surgery is fairly niche i'd imagine? Perhaps the demand is for other stuff.
to be honest what i actually ended up having "done" a regular surgeon could have done it. no plastic or skin grafts were put in me...., although the doctor who referred me did initially think i'd need a skin graft.
Original post by Pathway
I think it depends on where you are, your personal situation and the specific need you have.
Having said that, I was recently referred to Respiratory Medicine and it took two weeks from the referral being made to the appointment itself.
You may not actually need surgery, let the doctors figure out what's necessary. Speak to your GP now though regardless because at least you'll be further along in getting what you need.
Having said that, I was recently referred to Respiratory Medicine and it took two weeks from the referral being made to the appointment itself.
You may not actually need surgery, let the doctors figure out what's necessary. Speak to your GP now though regardless because at least you'll be further along in getting what you need.
Thanks, I'll get in touch with them although I have a feeling they'll just refer me to a specialist because this is as far as I can tell pretty unusual.
Original post by Anonymous
Hi so I have something wrong with the tendons in my hand and I think I'll probably need surgery for it at some point as it causes pain if I write or hold things for a long period of time (I was allowed to type my exams at A level). I'm hopefully going to uni to do medicine next year but I haven't been to the GP yet. I've seen the headlines of more people than ever waiting over a year for treatment but is there anywhere where I can find or anyone who knows how long Orthopaedic (I think this would be orthopaedic but I guess could be plastics either idk) wait times are?
This all seems like a huge stretch - lets see what the GP says first.
Original post by Anonymous
there are lies being told about waiting times imo,
in early march i had an appointment with a plastic surgeon at an NHS hospital, she said she could fit me in a week later. i had the operation at st georges and had no problems getting a bed. there was only 2 people in my ward when i got there.., there was PLENTY OF space.
in early march i had an appointment with a plastic surgeon at an NHS hospital, she said she could fit me in a week later. i had the operation at st georges and had no problems getting a bed. there was only 2 people in my ward when i got there.., there was PLENTY OF space.
Lets get this straight... you think that waiting lists rising after a year-long global pandemic is... something they'd need to lie about?
Perhaps unsurprisingly the logistics of surgical and non-surgical appointments across the entire NHS is incredibly complex. But very briefly: Anything that might be cancer is dealt with much quicker, anything that's considered urgent is much quicker, some surgeons/doctors are more available than others (both in terms of specialty and location), and outside of a pandemic, beds are rarely the limiting factor outside of winter. Staff are.
Original post by Anonymous
Hi so I have something wrong with the tendons in my hand and I think I'll probably need surgery for it at some point as it causes pain if I write or hold things for a long period of time (I was allowed to type my exams at A level). I'm hopefully going to uni to do medicine next year but I haven't been to the GP yet. I've seen the headlines of more people than ever waiting over a year for treatment but is there anywhere where I can find or anyone who knows how long Orthopaedic (I think this would be orthopaedic but I guess could be plastics either idk) wait times are?
What makes you think you might need surgery if you haven't seen your GP yet? Your GP should be able to tell you roughly how long the waiting list will be. Or you could try googling the waiting times for orhtopaedica/plastics in your area - some hospitals have this information on their website.
Original post by black tea
What makes you think you might need surgery if you haven't seen your GP yet? Your GP should be able to tell you roughly how long the waiting list will be. Or you could try googling the waiting times for orhtopaedica/plastics in your area - some hospitals have this information on their website.
I've spoken to a few family members who are/were doctors who seem to think if I'd had it for a few months, a conservative approach would be the best bet, but since it seems congenital, it will probably need surgery.
Original post by nexttime
Lets get this straight... you think that waiting lists rising after a year-long global pandemic is... something they'd need to lie about?
Perhaps unsurprisingly the logistics of surgical and non-surgical appointments across the entire NHS is incredibly complex. But very briefly: Anything that might be cancer is dealt with much quicker, anything that's considered urgent is much quicker, some surgeons/doctors are more available than others (both in terms of specialty and location), and outside of a pandemic, beds are rarely the limiting factor outside of winter. Staff are.
Perhaps unsurprisingly the logistics of surgical and non-surgical appointments across the entire NHS is incredibly complex. But very briefly: Anything that might be cancer is dealt with much quicker, anything that's considered urgent is much quicker, some surgeons/doctors are more available than others (both in terms of specialty and location), and outside of a pandemic, beds are rarely the limiting factor outside of winter. Staff are.
I think they're not being straight with the public yes.
I don't see any reason why I was instantly given an appointment for surgery a mere 1 week later after my initial appointment with the plastic surgeon. It was not life threatening. In fact, the two surgeons I spoke to there initially put pressure on me to just live with my ailment. but I wanted it sorted.
why I got seen in 1 one week and old ladies are waiting like a year to get hip operations is beyond me.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. I was delighted to get it done so quickly as I was honestly expecting a 6+ month wait.
but at the same time, after being seen so quickly ... and seeing how empty my ward was.. I do have strong doubts about what the government/nhs is telling the public about waiting times..
The hospital where I got it done was St Georges. I can't find where to look up the waiting times online, but if you are able to find it, it would be interesting to see how long the waiting times are.
Original post by fenton484
NHS waiting times are nothing short of disgraceful. I've been told i have a 12-18 month wait to see someone for Aspergers. Surely there aren't that many aspergic people in the UK?
I have been through the process. The problem is partly because there are not enough people to carry out the diagnosis. During the pandemic, some diagnostic teams in parts of the country have been doing pre-screening and assessments via video.
Whilst you wait, I would strongly recommend that you make a list which goes through all the symptoms of ASD. Under each symptom, label separately how it affected you both as a child and an adult. Keep updating the list regularly if something triggers your memory.
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/autism/signs/children/
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/autism/signs/adults/
Spoiler
Note as well that the therapist/ team will very likely ask to speak to a family member who knew you when you were growing up, so you may want to start thinking about who you would like to tell. If no one is available during this time period, then the diagnosis is harder but not impossible. You may find old teacher reports useful as evidence as well. Good luck!
(edited 2 years ago)
Original post by Anonymous
I think they're not being straight with the public yes.
I don't see any reason why I was instantly given an appointment for surgery a mere 1 week later after my initial appointment with the plastic surgeon. It was not life threatening. In fact, the two surgeons I spoke to there initially put pressure on me to just live with my ailment. but I wanted it sorted.
why I got seen in 1 one week and old ladies are waiting like a year to get hip operations is beyond me.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. I was delighted to get it done so quickly as I was honestly expecting a 6+ month wait.
but at the same time, after being seen so quickly ... and seeing how empty my ward was.. I do have strong doubts about what the government/nhs is telling the public about waiting times..
The hospital where I got it done was St Georges. I can't find where to look up the waiting times online, but if you are able to find it, it would be interesting to see how long the waiting times are.
I don't see any reason why I was instantly given an appointment for surgery a mere 1 week later after my initial appointment with the plastic surgeon. It was not life threatening. In fact, the two surgeons I spoke to there initially put pressure on me to just live with my ailment. but I wanted it sorted.
why I got seen in 1 one week and old ladies are waiting like a year to get hip operations is beyond me.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. I was delighted to get it done so quickly as I was honestly expecting a 6+ month wait.
but at the same time, after being seen so quickly ... and seeing how empty my ward was.. I do have strong doubts about what the government/nhs is telling the public about waiting times..
The hospital where I got it done was St Georges. I can't find where to look up the waiting times online, but if you are able to find it, it would be interesting to see how long the waiting times are.
The main bottle-neck in surgery is not ward beds, it's not operating theatre space, it's not even staff shortages although none of these are particularly abundant.
The main bottle-neck in surgery is the availabilty of high dependancy and ITU beds which are needed to safeguard against serious adverse outcomes in the event of a problem with the surgery or the anesthesia.
We are in a global pandemic at the moment which during its peaks has had most hospital's ITU and HDU departments at well over 100% occupancy just with covid patients.
You were waiting for a minor plastics surgery. Many proceedures in the list you were waiting on are able to be completed with local anaesthetic only, and at such a low level of risk that surgeons may be happy to proceed even without the guarantee of escalation to ITU being available. Most other lists have very few cases which carry such low risk. As such at a time when other surgical specialities are hamstrung by an inability to operate (and were often redeployed because there was no viable way they could perform any cases from their list) plastics have been able to continue to operate with far less disruption as they are less dependant on critical care services, as such they don't have quite the same backlog of work.
(edited 2 years ago)
Original post by Anonymous
why I got seen in 1 one week and old ladies are waiting like a year to get hip operations is beyond me.
why I got seen in 1 one week and old ladies are waiting like a year to get hip operations is beyond me.
A plastic surgeon can't do a hip replacement...
Original post by 0le
I have been through the process. The problem is partly because there are not enough people to carry out the diagnosis. During the pandemic, some diagnostic teams in parts of the country have been doing pre-screening and assessments via video.
Whilst you wait, I would strongly recommend that you make a list which goes through all the symptoms of ASD. Under each symptom, label separately how it affected you both as a child and an adult. Keep updating the list regularly if something triggers your memory.
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/autism/signs/children/
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/autism/signs/adults/
Note as well that the therapist/ team will very likely ask to speak to a family member who knew you when you were growing up, so you may want to start thinking about who you would like to tell. If no one is available during this time period, then the diagnosis is harder but not impossible. You may find old teacher reports useful as evidence as well. Good luck!
Whilst you wait, I would strongly recommend that you make a list which goes through all the symptoms of ASD. Under each symptom, label separately how it affected you both as a child and an adult. Keep updating the list regularly if something triggers your memory.
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/autism/signs/children/
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/autism/signs/adults/
Spoiler
Note as well that the therapist/ team will very likely ask to speak to a family member who knew you when you were growing up, so you may want to start thinking about who you would like to tell. If no one is available during this time period, then the diagnosis is harder but not impossible. You may find old teacher reports useful as evidence as well. Good luck!
Ive already been diagnosed. Privately. I wanted to see the team to offer me things like helping with dealing my condition etc
Original post by fenton484
Ive already been diagnosed. Privately. I wanted to see the team to offer me things like helping with dealing my condition etc
I was told that the local ASD service only provide diagnostic services and not support services, although your experiences may differ. It may be faster to go through IAPT. Good luck either way.
(edited 2 years ago)
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