Is this normal waiting time?

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What is PALS?

The Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) provides confidential advice, information and support for patients, relatives and carers.

If you have any concerns or are uncertain about any aspect of your treatment, PALS help you deal with any issues you may have.

Oh tow that’s beyond stressful.
Had you tried ringing the hospital PALS department? They look into every complaint speedily (if you explain the urgency).

My colleague used to work in the office there at the teaching hospital I worked at.
They were brilliant.
Tenacious on behalf of the patient, pressing for a full explanation and ensuring a good outcome.

Yes Urmstongran , she phoned then saw another doctor who wrote another letter stressing the urgency . She's now phoned into the consultant's secretary ( as advised by doc ) three times but still no further forward .
Last year she was treated for cervical cancer ..............

It’s all very well to say that BCCs don’t spread very quickly but when it’s your nose it’s difficult not to worry. Mine was right in the middle of my nose. I’d had one a few years earlier and it left a scar on my nostril.
My latest on was right on the tip of my nose and I wanted the scar to be as small as possible so I paid. It cost £800. £180 for the initial consultation at Spire.
Worth every penny.

Oh tiredoldwoman that’s just so wrong on so many levels. After seeing the GP, when 2 weeks had lapsed did your daughter ring her GP? His/her secretary ought to have sorted out the urgent referral on your daughters behalf.

Such a delay is unacceptable for an urgent referral & your poor daughter & your family must be frantic after so many weeks.

Depends where the consultant does his theatre sessions. If privately (ie The Spire) then after the initial private consultation (used to be circa £180 when I was working 6 years ago but has probably gone up since to around £220 I expect) your name goes onto the list at a private theatre session & is quicker. But you pay for the lot - anaesthetist, sutures, bandages as well as surgery - or you have a private insurance plan to draw on.

However, many patients, especially if worried, are happy to be seen privately initially by the consultant of their choice for an evaluation & maybe baseline tests such as bloods or a scan - still needing a referral letter from their GP - then are happy to take their turn on that consultant’s NHS waiting list. There is no jumping the queue allowed. You just enter that list and wait.

Despite the encouraging adverts on the tv advising us not to delay seeking help , the help is NOT there .
My daughter went to see her doctor in late October about pain and puckering in her breast , the doc wrote a letter insisting on an urgent mammogram , she's still not had it . Today she was told they couldn't see her until March .......
She's arranging a private mammogram .

I didn't realise you could have one type for years. Lots of good information everyone thanks.
Ellianne I thought seeing a consultant privately helps to get a quicker diagnosis and then you can go on the waiting list for treatment much quicker. Many people wait a much longer time on NHS for consultation. Is it not so?

* what I'm saying is that I had to start the process all over again.

I guess an alternative might be to pay to see a skin specialist quickly for a private first consultation, and take it from there. I did that, but she made me aware she could not jump me up her NHS surgical list. Fair enough.

During the first lockdown I had a suspicious lesion on my arm and my GP refered me to a skin specialist, who said it could be one of two things, one of which was malignant. Normally he would wait but with the situation as it was would remove it completely straight away. Fortunately the result was non malignant, but I couldn't fault the speed of appointment and treatment.

Snap another med sec here. Gastro was my thing. Lovely job wasn't it but always underneath stacks of notes!

Great information on these skin lesions. thanks.

A friend of mine waited a year (for the right moment in her busy life) to have her facial/nose skin cancer removed. It had grown/spread very little in all that time. The consultants can tell cancers apart and know their growth rates and will only let you go as far as they think is right for your particular cancer. They are doing their best and I don't think anything urgent cases would be left too long. It just means other less urgent cases are pushed further down the queue

My friend and I have a mole check every year at a skin clinic in London. Last year, they found a BCC on my eyebrow and a 'pre-melanoma' on her leg. We both went to our GP's - hers was removed on the NHS within 2 weeks. I was told there was a 3 month wait for me to be seen as it wasn't considered urgent. That's the difference between the 2 types. After a lot of thought, I opted to have it done privately at the clinic (they use Harley Street consultants). It cost about £600 and was money well spent in my opinion - the scar is almost invisible.

I called my GP about what I thought was some form of skin cancer in September. Within 7 weeks I had had a biopsy and had it removed at a NHS clinic and 4 weeks later received a diagnoses of squamous cell carcinoma but no further treatment needed. I guess I was lucky in going before the Covid rates rose again.

It depends on what kind of cancer it is, whether it matters too much. I had a basal cell carcinoma, which doubled in size over 12 months, and still wasn’t too dangerous when it was removed. I’m still here, 25 years later, so no need to panic

My husband has waited 2 years for an operation and over a year to see a parkinson's specialist . So I'm afraid this nothing unusual .

Consultants are allowed 10% of their income to come from private work. Not all consultants choose to have a private practice.

I remember one of the more senior dermatologist consultants saying that malignant melanomas are most common on the backs of legs for women and on the backs of men. I always think of that when I see adults sunbathing lying on their stomachs when on holiday. No!

What’s annoying is sometimes if you pay to go private to be treated within a few days you’re treated by the same consultant who told you there is a six month wait!
Nye Bevan had to ‘stuff the doctors’ mouths with gold’ when he introduced the NHS because the BMA were against the NHS in 1945. Part of the deal was that they could retain a private practice alongside NHS. We’ve never really got over this two tier health system and I fear that after Brexit it’ll only get worse, with private American companies making a killing in U.K., excuse the pun.

MEGS. Ring the consultants secretary and ask where you are on the list.

My first appointment was a telephone one. I only spotted this the day before and, as it was very early in the morning, was debating whether to stay overnight near the hospital. She asked if I needed to be seen and I received an appointment for a week or so after.

I have been waiting since March for new appointment with dermatologist after having to cancel original when my husband was rushed to hospital, not sure what to do now.

I had a large one on my shoulder for years before I knew what it was. It was only when my daughter said you’d better get that looked at that I went to the Dr and was referred to have it surgically removed. More recently had one on my hand which was treated with a cream. I seem to remember reading that it wasn’t really accurate to describe them as carcenomas as they are obviously different from the malignant variety.

Back in the day, nivea was the only skin protection, so it cannot be surprising that our skin has suffered.

I have had 2 BCCs removed myself, one at the side of my nose with a skin graft, and one on my forehead a few years later. Although they do spread, it is very slow, and there is very rarely any serious consequence. They are a form of skin cancer but they are the least worrisome, except for cosmetic reasons. A wait of several months is normal and you shouldn't be too concerned. They are not really urgent, unless perhaps they are on the eyelid very close to the eye or something. Some people have these for years and years before even seeking treatment. Please don't worry!

My sil has skin cancer on her face, she had a positive biopsy result two weeks ago and is having her op today. We’re in Yorkshire .