NHS Consultant appointment cancelled/delayed 4x

knightstyle

Have read this with interest. see my post https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4346523
But Choose and book is useless if you are only given one consultant and hospital! PALS again useless, they just told me to write to Customercare@ulh.nhs.uk and not them! No reply from them yet!
AAARRRGGGHHH

pmduk

I organised it by going back to the GP and asking to be referred via choose and book. Turns you I wasn't the first to ask to be referred away from that hospital. Use Choose and book at home to see which other hospitals are available for the necessary condition.

pmduk

What Herongull says is in line with the rules, but consultants do whatever they like.

Herongull

easy wrote: »

This isn't true. You won't get your tests done until you have seen a consultant to determine what needs testing. You can see a consultant privately, and he can then refer you to the NHS hospital for your tests/xrays/scans or whatever. The waiting lists for tests on the NHS are usually rather shorter than that for the initial consultation with the consultant.

As a family we have done this a number of times in the past for different conditions. Get a private appt with the consultant, then you get any investigations started, but under the NHS.

This used to be true, but things changed a couple of years ago. There is now an 18 week target for commencement of treatment and the clock starts at GP referral.

If you just go down the NHS route, then NHS consultation, NHS tests and NHS treatment all take place within 18 weeks (if the target is met).

If you pay for a private consultation, the private consultation, NHS tests and NHS treatment all take place within 18 weeks (if the target is met).

So your actual treatment will start at the same time whether or not you pay for a private consultation, so you might as well save your money.

It used to be different in the past, when the target time ran from when the consultation put you on the waiting list for the operation. Then there was an advantage in paying for a private consultation in order to save the wait for the NHS consultation.

More information about the 18 week target and other matters can be found here:
http://www.nhs.uk/choiceintheNHS/Rightsandpledges/Waitingtimes/Pages/Guide%20to%20waiting%20times.aspx

knightstyle

But the 18 week thing is just a target and is for 95% of patients. So they do not have to meet the target, there is no penalty given to the consultant, he still gets paid. Nowhere to leave a comment about consultants on NHS choices site. So it goes on no-one even acknowledges my complaint of 5 days ago!