Nhs 18 week rule

corbyboy

fifitrix123 wrote: »

I have paid tax for years and years for healthcare so why should I pay extra now just so foreigners can get NHS care?

I was starting to feel for your anxiety but then you ruined it with a classic moronic remark. Before "the foreigners" came you would probably have been waiting over a year for your op.

The hospital have targets to meet so definitely won't be delaying your op unless there is a very good reason. Have they given you the option of going to a different hospital? If not ask them why. Could there also be a clinical reason why you can't be referred elsewhere?

OnTheUp_2-2

corbyboy wrote: »

I was starting to feel for your anxiety but then you ruined it with a classic moronic remark. Before "the foreigners" came you would probably have been waiting over a year for your op.

The hospital have targets to meet so definitely won't be delaying your op unless there is a very good reason. Have they given you the option of going to a different hospital? If not ask them why. Could there also be a clinical reason why you can't be referred elsewhere?

not so sure that was a " moronic" statement.

A family member was a admitted for an operation, a second operation I might add because the first one was botched. Her op should have been at 8am.. but that got pushed back until 5pm because a refugee had arrived in this country needing medical treatment and was would you believe brought down by helicopter because they complained of chest pains on the way...

if only we were all treated so good!

skintdragon

Hello,

Please don't stress about the timings; there can be numerous reasons for the delay.

As an ex- NHS theatre worker I hope to be able to shine some light on how the system works (but don't claim to be an expert/ right!).

The reason why they may have initially rescheduled your list to the private sector is likely to be due to breach of waiting times. I understand you then got moved back to the NHS, and are having to wait a bit longer?

This may well depend on several things. For a start, depending on the procedure you are having done, some (?) private hospitals lack the critical care support (as in High Dependency/ Intensive Care Units) and so it can be safety- related. Also, I am not sure whether the private sector theatres are staffed 24 hours; in my experience I don't think they do (but maybe have on- call; who knows).

The other issue is STAFFING!!!! If you have a procedure done in the NHS where there are provisions for A&E and other emergency care services, it is likely that there will be a 24 hour acute/ trauma theatre team working/ available for 24 hours. So, for example, if the elective list is over- run due to unforseen circumstances (which does happen quite alot), the original theatre team for that theatre can be relieved by the acute theatre staff. This may not happen in all theatres though, but the acute team generally run the theatres after hours. Usually the regular theatre team stay until the end of the list, but this is all very much dependant on the way the theatre managment works. It's complicated!

Not sure if my explanation is clear (probably not) but what I am trying to say is that behind the scenes, things are not always as straight- forward as they seem.

There may also be issues with BEDS!!! this is always an ongoing bone of contention for many surgical units. It's all well and good saying that there will be a bed for you on whatever date etc, but if the wards get acute admissions overnight they have to admit them (again, depeendant on local hospital management policies). They cannot proceed with a planned procedure if they cannot allocate you a bed. This is usually the main cause for delays for elective cases. If your condition is not considered to be "life/ limb- threatning", then you are likely to be delayed, thus not sending you to theatre after late afternoon.

The other thing to consider is that, again, dependant on the procedure and speciality, you need the proper/ correct instruments and gear to hand. It's no good asking a team of theatre staff to assist in a procedure they have no training over.

Another factor: lack of anaesthetists suitable for that particular speciality. Again, this boils down to staffing issues.

I hope this answers part of your question. Keep your chin up.:A

Errata

Skintdragon - thanks for that very clear explanation. Unavailable behind the scenes staff in private hospitals is the reason I would never chose anything other than the NHS.

fifitrix123

Skintdragon thank you very much for that explanation but I have been given several different reasons.....

1st The surgeon needs an extra team because of my situation? apart from having emphysema there is nothing else and have had a couple of ops which have not affected me.

2nd They may run over theatre time which won't matter in the NHS hospital? Well does that mean if you private if they run out of time they leave you open until they can get you back in?

3rd They don't have HDU beds. A blatant lie as I spoke to the nurse in charge of HDU who assures me she does have beds and available!!!

The surgeon and team would be the same in each hospital. I just think it is that they realised my op would cost more than many because it is such a major one so "threw me back" at the NHS. (Secretarys Words!!!) I am not a piece of meat!!!

I now have House of Commons dealing with the PCT about it as yes I was referred due to breach of patient waiting times and now have a meeting on Monday at the NHS hospital who just happen to be "pulling out" of the private hospital the same day......... hence keeping me waiting another couple of weeks so they can't do it there.

I have never been given an option to choose and book as I was told there was no other surgeon who can do the op!!!! which again is a lie as there is a surgeon in another private hospital closer to me who does do the same operation and I have asked time and time again to be referred there also!
They even told me another hospital does not have room which again was a lie as I called them and was told it would be no problem.

I suspect this is a relatively new proceedure the surgeon wants to do himself so get some glory which I don't mind BUT not making me wait and messing me about to suit themselves!!!

I will await the reply from PCT to my MP and see what they say on Monday....................

bcl999

"I am not a piece of meat!!!"

Well, actually ...............I had a drain in after my operation and what was coming out of it reminded me of nothing so much as the juices/blood from a joint!
So it made me think of myself as just a piece of meat despite all my human pretentiousness!

Seriously, though, hope it all works out how you would like.

Dizzy_Ditzy

your 18 weeks start when the hospital recieves the referral from your GP. An average of 8-12 weeks for your initial consultation. If you get added to the waiting list as a result of that first consultation, your surgery should be within 18 weeks of the date the hospital recieved our referral. However, if you were added to the waiting list after that initial referral, ie a 2nd appointment after scans or tests or medication, then your 18 week start date now becomes the day before you were added to the list.

There could be any number of reasons why the private hospital didnt do your surgery. So yes, they can turn you away if the surgery is deemed too complicated to be done at the private hospital. Your comment about the operation "taking too long to do privately" could well be to do with the surgeon only having a half day list at that hospital, where he might have an all day list at the NHS hospital. He may have had you and one or 2 others on that list who were clinically more urgent than yourself.

If you have been cancelled by the hospital on or near the day, it will have been for a good reason. Lack of beds, a more urgent patient (cancer patients take absolute priority), major staffing issues.

Believe it or not, hospitals dont just cancel patients for the fun of it. Breach patients do get given priority over routine patients, but you still wont get priority over a cancer patient. And yes, they probably did move patients dates around to get you in. There is a whole lot more goes into this than you think!!

On the day, even though the theatre lists are planned in some sort of order, the final order comes down to the surgeon. He/She will often switch patients around to accomodate various things- equipment being needed in another theatre for example.

As someone else has already said, the targets are guidelines only and there is nothing legally binding about them.