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NHS waiting lists could take 685 years to clear.

(37 Posts)
cornergran Thu 09-May-24 19:08:58

I was advised by the Staff nurse carrying out a procedure on my eyes a follow up was necessary in 2-3 weeks. If no appointment offered after 2 weeks I was to call the secretaries and check. I did so this morning and learned I am on a pending list, not a waiting list so not counted. An appointment was estimated to be a further 6 weeks away and will be scheduled in due course. It seems the list is being manipulated.

maddyone Thu 09-May-24 19:07:35

Pantglass I was relieved to find out that the situation isn’t quite so bad, but even so, I do know 7 - 8 million people are waiting for surgery. I’m in pain every day from a spinal problem. I had a steroid cervical injection which helped to reduce the pain for about 3 - 4 weeks, but I’m back to full pain again now. Sometimes I get very depressed about living with constant pain. I try to get on with my life but it’s really horrible and there’s nothing I can do about it. My next appointment with the consultant isn’t until 02/07 and then I’ll hopefully be put on the list for surgery. I’m fed up of it and I’m sure others are too. We’re constantly told that more money than ever before is being put into the NHS so why am I and so many other people having to wait in permanent pain. I feel that no one actually cares.

Callistemon21 Thu 09-May-24 18:06:40

maddyone

And then there are people like me who need surgery but are not yet on the waiting list because I’ve got to see the consultant again in order to be put in the list, and despite being told I wouldn’t have to wait again, it turns out I do, and I can’t even see the consultant again until July. There will be millions in that position. That’s why I couldn’t possibly vote Conservative but I don’t know who I will vote for. Despite money being put into the NHS it’s insufficient for the number of people here.

Oh yes, there are several ways of making sure your name doesn't appear on a list so in fact the wait could be much longer than 685 years!

I might be deemed too old for surgery by then.

Pantglas2 Thu 09-May-24 18:02:11

Interesting Maddy…in wales I suspect the wait will be a whole millennium!

We don’t pray for Labour to manage things here, lord knows they’ve done enough damage and now they want to increase Senedd by 40% because they’re all so busy…

Imagine the Tories voting to increase Westminster MPs to almost a thousand jobs for their cohorts!

maddyone Thu 09-May-24 17:54:31

Those figures are for England by the way.

maddyone Thu 09-May-24 17:53:20

Right, I’ve just had a look. Apparently ten million surgeries are performed each year, in around three thousand operating theatres. Apparently around twelve thousand operations are performed each year in any one operating theatre, so that’s where the twelve thousand figure came from.
Thank goodness for that!
I think the journalist who wrote that piece needs to go back to school. Either his/her understanding isn’t up to much, or his/her maths isn’t up to much.

Casdon Thu 09-May-24 16:47:02

I’d bet that in 685 years humans will be supervising but probably won’t be directly involved in the process of curing illnesses or performing surgery, it will be automated. You’ll probably walk into a diagnostic machine which will then use immunotherapy or its successor to cure your ills. Surgery will be done by robots.

maddyone Thu 09-May-24 15:49:29

And then there are people like me who need surgery but are not yet on the waiting list because I’ve got to see the consultant again in order to be put in the list, and despite being told I wouldn’t have to wait again, it turns out I do, and I can’t even see the consultant again until July. There will be millions in that position. That’s why I couldn’t possibly vote Conservative but I don’t know who I will vote for. Despite money being put into the NHS it’s insufficient for the number of people here.

Cossy Thu 09-May-24 15:48:41

Mmmm any stats which show who’s on the waiting list, ie immigrant or native?? I’ll wager that there’s lots of home grown people waiting for ops, especially perhaps the elderly, hip and knee replacements, cataracts etc.

My own 68 year old husband has been on an NHS wait list for a hernia op for over a year now. Mind you, he’s Irish, so an immigrant, albeit back in 1960.

Chestnut Thu 09-May-24 15:40:47

This is why immigration has to stop. We have far too many people in this country and the more we have the greater the pressure. Then we lose our medical workers who go abroad and it just gets worse. However, horse, door and bolted comes to mind. We lost control of our borders years ago.

Charleygirl5 Thu 09-May-24 15:32:00

I do not know what the answer is as one cannot go privately every time or even at all.

Urmstongran Thu 09-May-24 15:22:58

That was a headline today in the Telegraph.
Pretty shocking!

Apparently more than 7.5 million people are yet to have operations and backlog is falling at less than 1,000 a month at current rates.