_____________.......................

[Deleted User]

.......................

comeandgo

I think it will depend in which health board you are under. My husband was told if he had not heard from the hospital regarding a specialist consultation within 6 weeks to contact doctor again. We are now on week 3. What happens here is you get a letter, you phone the hospital and agree a date and time with staff on phone so you can choose a date you are available, and unless urgent it could be months in the future. If you need to cancel, you phone and agree a future date.

Toothsmith

I think it would also depend on a lot of very individual factors in the practice, and with the people concerned in the time-management of the admin tasks.

Fire_Fox

Check your local NHS Hospital Trust/ GP practice websites (if any).

If no information there, telephone your GP practice and/ or the relevant hospital outpatients department. Bear in mind Hospital Trusts are publicly funded, most GP practices are privately run, so set their own admin budgets and admin priorities.

Both will vary by region and by specialty. In my West Yorkshire city centre the GP booked a hospital ENT appointment instantly on her desktop PC. Appointment is many months off (shorter than last time which was almost a year :eek:). Could not care less.

Printout I left the surgery with has a 'code word' unique to me, so I can change the date online. IIRC if you get lucky you hit a cancellation relatively soon. I have seen the codeword' before, maybe hospital Physio referral a couple of years ago?

We are a deprived city BTW, where many have no online access or skills whatsoever. The central library computers are well used. I suspect the NHS booking system is more for NHS staff convenience. No criticism of the NHS or staff implied or intended - I have held several posts! - just wished the OP to have a comparison to their own NHS Trusts.

Spoonie_Turtle

As said above, it depends!

If you're sent an appointment through then likely you'll be able to change it over the phone or online.

My last referral was pretty quick, within a week, but it was with the wrong specialist team (for a hereditary condition, needed to be to the same team that deals with the rest of my family); I phoned up and was fortunate enough to be able to speak to my GP's secretary, who then did the correct referral the same day. Funnily enough, the first referral resulted in a definite appointment; the correct one resulted in a letter saying they'd phone me but if I'd not heard by a certain date, I should phone them.


As for whether you're fit for work, only you can decide what to tell them because only you know how your medical problem is affecting you. There's a difference between something that occasionally flares up but you're fine the rest of the time, and something that is constantly causing problems.

If it is something constant and chronic (or likely to be - chronic meaning long-term of course, not an indication of severity) and interferes with daily functioning, you could think about whether it would be classed as a disability under the Equality Act 2010, in which case any potential employer would be legally obliged to make reasonable adjustments - however whether or not to disclose any disability is a complex issue in itself, but if you do end up needing reasonable adjustments then you stand a better chance if you've disclosed at the start of any employment, than if you only bring it up when you're having difficulties. Reasonable adjustments include adjustments to policies such as leave of absence, sickness absence, etc.

[I have no idea the nature of your condition so I apologise if that was all a bit much or has no relevance to your situation, just it's good to be as informed as possible, especially as many people who aren't very obviously disabled would be covered by anti-discrimination legislation but are not aware of it.]

Edit: cross-posted. Glad you can get things moving by booking an appointment

Spoonie_Turtle

ciaccino wrote: »

Well, it wasn't chronic until I discovered it. I won't give much detail but it's a mass that shouldn't be there. The mass itself is not tumoural but could hide something else and most likely will have to be surgically removed.


I would have no problem working until I get surgery, but, for example, this morning I was asked if I could guarantee working every day till Xmas and I had to turn the job down. [I would probably have to start a thread in another subforum, though]

Right, yes I understand. It sounds like you need an employer with a decent sickness absence policy to allow for surgery and recovery without harrassing you to come back before you're healed, and also reasonable in the long term for any further appointments that may be necessary (or not, if it turns out there's nothing else there). It must be frustrating timing as seasonal jobs are coming up. Once you've booked the appointment hopefully you'll know with more certainty where you stand

unforeseen

Normally the GP will do the referral within 24 hours. However it's up to the health board/Trust how long before they respond.

My Trust will give a routine appointment date within 18 weeks but you won't get a letter until about 4 weeks after the referral.

My best was a phone call 5 hours after a fast track referral with an appt within 4 days, but that was suspected (and later confirmed) cancer

pickledonionspaceraider

There is nothing wrong with giving your GP a call towards the end of the week to ask if the referral has been made - I have done this before