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How long for a referral letter to go through in Scotland

So guys n gals.just wondering if any of you know how long it should take from consultant writing referral letter to surgeon,to him reading said letter,to him issueing an app to me to come meet him to then discuss surgery...been nealry 2 weeks and havnt heard heehaw

considering the hassle i had to get the barsteward to write the letter in the first place,been on the "i urgently need surgery" list since last year but for some reason they seem to be dragging their heels even though they know how ill i have been

now been put back on steriods to get me through Xmas.i even went to my GP to ask him to refer me and havnt heard diddly squat getting to the stage im phoning the surgeons receptionist every 2 days and she is as usefull as a chocolate fireguard...

to say im annoyed and angry and down right pissed of is putting it mildly...
 
Hard as it is, you do have to wait a while.

They will schedule surgery according to how badly you need it. But it can be months. If you're urgent it can still be several weeks.

I'm on the waiting list for surgery which isn't urgent. Been three months so far and I've not been given a date yet, though I have had my pre-op assessment. I've had quite a few surgeries and waited a few months between being referred for surgery and the actual operation each time. You should get various letters, pre-op appointments, etc. within the next few weeks.

You can ring your doctor's secretary or the hospital appointments department and ask them where you are on the waiting list. If you feel you really can't wait, ask your GP to chase it up for you - especially if you're getting worse.

But I don't think your consultant has done anything wrong here.
 
The waiting can be so frustrating, everything seems to take far longer than it aught to with the NHS. When I had a similar-ish problem in the past I contacted the patient advice and liaison service (PALS) at my hospital who were excellent and got me in to see my consultant the following week. I *think* all NHS hospitals have a PALS so it might be worth you contacting them to see if they can find out what's causing the delays and maybe they can get things moving in the right direction for you.
 
@UnXmas im affraid i have to disagree with you,my consultant has pissed me about since last year,he has cancelled 2 appointments and i only see him 6monthly,so that was over a year before i had an app,he new i desperately needed surgery last summer,even wrote this in a letter to my GP,but still never referred me,i then had an app with my GI nurse who was so miffed with him not even taking 2 minutes to come and speak with me she made an app with HER boss to complain about him,due to his inability to make a reasonable request for me to meet with the surgeon,the guy has dragged his heels constantly through out the last year,it got to the stage last summer i had been on all the meds that they has and was still going to the loo 30times a day not sleeping and loosing weight drastically,but he still fucked me about,basically i BLAME HIM SOLELY...

I know you might think im having a rant but its past that now,im just sick with the whole lack of communication from him,even when i do see him he doesnt give me more than 5 minutes of his time which i find is down right shocking,anyway as soon as i get surgery confirmed im requesting new consultant.
 
@Sarah thats a good cal.thanks for that.i feel im getting brushed off at every turn,i know they are going as fast as they can but its the basic lack of initial movement i feel annoyed about,the last time i was ill i got app with the surgeon really qiuck and he had me in for surgery within 2 weeks,i think thats why im a bit annoyed,probably expected the same,my fault for expecting to be treated as an ill person instead of just a number,the last phone conversation i had with surgeons secretary i just felt she wasnt really that interested in finding out for me if he had even read the letter never mind made an app.im due to go on summer hols in july and its looking like i will either have to now ask surgery be done when i come back or cancell as recovery time for this op is long and im running out of time,i booked this last year as the consultant had promosed me he was on the case with getting surgery reffered,as you can imagine that hasnt happened and im mighty pissed off about it...

sorry for ranting guys,just feeling let down,if i had money i would have went private
 
That does make a difference if he's messed you around a whole year - I missed that in your first post and thought it was just the last two weeks that you haven't heard anything.

Definitely ask for a referral to a new consultant.
 
Location
Scotland
Who is your consultant hainman? I am in the forth valley and I was given a number for the IBD nursing service so I can call them anytime if im ill or if I need advice, did you get something like that over in Glasgow? If so then they record all your calls and they should always call you back
 
When I want to know a letter has been done, I phone the consultant's secretary and ask for a copy.

That way I know it has been done and probably sent by the time I get it. Read/scanned into system is another matter though!

Perhaps in your case the time has come now to make a formal complaint. PALS can help or just look on your Hospital website where to send a complaint letter.

If both ends, surgery and GI, are being useless the a complaint is probably the way forward. Sadly when Drs are beng rubbish they don't usually change while you're sitting and waiting for something to be done.

A complaint may get you nowhere but it usually makes you feel better.
 
So i have eventually got a word of an appointment with the surgeon,im on the waiting list and should be seen on or before 9th of april...

I was hoping i would have been seen before now but looks like i'll just have to ride the gravy train till then.....

Also i think i might need to ask the surgeon to make my surgery after my hols in july as i dont think i'll have recovered by the time im due to fly in july...at least i will get the summer to enjoy my mountain biking and then get the op

thanks for all your input into this situation....i'll keep you posted on my up coming appointment..

thanks Craig
 
Good luck Craig, I hope you get to enjoy your holiday before the surgery. It's funny that we have to wait so long for supposedly urgent appointments, in the ideal world everything could be done straight away but I guess we have to pay the price of having a free national health service by having to wait.
 
Thanks Sarah....I know,i was a bit shell shocked when they said it would be around april but my boy was waiting on a wee op and again they said it could take upto 12 weeks but luckily they got him in after 3...I hope i get the option the defer theop if need be but after they have mucked me about since last year i reckon i should be allowed to have a say in when i go under the knife if it means loosing nearly 1000quid if i have to cancel the hols plus my wife and kids loose out all because 1 so-called specialist has been an ARSE...
 
So i eventually have a date with the surgeon,after numerous calls i managed to find out i was n the waiting list to have a wee chat with him,now i had to make more calls today to waiting list help desk but managed to wangle an app for 14th march,still 3 weeks way but better than 9th april which was originally quoted....

So now i have to wait to see how long after this app before i can get into surgery and decide if i have enough time for recovery before my summer hols on 5th july.if not im going to have to plead with him to do it when i come back as im not prepaired to loose £1000 cancelling and putting my family through missing out going n holiday.plus the cost of holiday insurance would be crazy(if i even get any)....

so do you think the surgeon would be prepaired to postpone my op considering the amount of time i have been mucked about by the consultant with regards to him basically not doing what he said he would do for me back in december....WRITE A BASIC REFERRAL LETTER....
 
That's great that you're being seen in March rather than April. I've never had surgery so I don't know how flexible they can be on dates but you have to weigh up how important the surgery is over the holiday. If it really is urgent then the sooner the op is done the better, but given how they've made you wait this long maybe it's not THAT urgent - I guess only the surgeon and consultant can judge that. I think if you asked for it to be postponed until after your holiday then they'd probably let you - I'm sure that kind of thing happens all the time.
 
hey sarah,yeh the surgery is kinda needed but i would have thought i would have had it by now ue to the consultant saying,yeh he needs surgery but then thats been since last year so they dont seem to be in any hurry to get me under the knife...i have to weigh up the fact that i have a family who cant afford to loose £1000 either and due to them keeping me waiting i think they owe me some leeway......but i'll know for sure next month....
 
Hi Craig, I am from Glasgow as well mate but live in London.

I had surgery in September 2012 in London on HNS and had the initial consultation with the surgeon in April 2012. I got offered a date in July but rejected it because my girlfriend was playing hocjey for team GB at the olympics in August and I wouldnt have missed her playing for anything! so I took the extra months of pain on the chin and went with the September surgery.

I know Glasgow and London possibly have different waiting times but consultation in April - operation to follow in June/July time is maybe a good estimate.

How long is your recovery likely to be?

Hail Hail!
 
hey luke,
thats good to hear they let you postpone for a while...
im thinking it could be upto 3-4 months as its colostomy surgery i think,unless surgeon thinks otherwise...im hoping he can go keyhole surgery aswell which should cut the time down quite a bit....im turning 40 in september and looking to treat myself to a new mountainbike so i want to be fit(ish) to ride it as it would be murder sitting starring at a new shinny bike i cant ride....
plus get back to the mighty Hoops games....save me spending half the game in the clatty loo's....

Hail Hail

Craig
 
Yeh mate I suppose if its keyhole surgery then the impact on your general stoamch wall etc is less and overall recovery time should be a bit less, but you still need to give yourself plenty of time to recover for your holiday. Hopefully in March they can give you an accurate estimate of waiting times.

I used to do a lot of mountain biking when I was young. Have you ever been to Glentress or anywhere similar?
 
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