I have had it with them. A year ago I started having chronic back pain and had to wait 6 months before i could see my rheumy, he ordered an MRI SCAN but because I was claustrophobic i had to wait for an open MRI, i had this done eventually in December 2006 and cant get an appointment until August this year to get my results. I phoned the hospital but was told that they have staff cut backs, my rheumy has been on holiday for 2 weeks and his secretary is ill but they have no cover. All I want is my results but no one can give them to me but my Rheumy. He wont over book his clinics so the soonest appointment is August????
I looked into taking out private medical but they wont accept me because i have an existing medical condition that affects the immune system.
I am now looking into going to see a private specialist and having to pay for it.I will probably faint from the cost. My G.P has even tried writing a letter to my Rhuemy stating that the pain had worsened and now travelled down the front of my thigh to my knee but that hasnt helped either. All i keep getting is "its the national healths fault" There are so many cut backs and not enough money to fund more staff.
There is even talk now of hospital removing light bulbs from corridors to save on the electricity bills. OMG Whats next!!!!
Hi Pin Cushion,
Sorry to hear you having such a bad time with the NHS. I agree with you, it's appalling.
I am at uni in Wales and coverage here is sparing at best. When my GP first referred me to a Rheumatologist I saw him privately as the waiting list was over 4 months long. I have since had my NHS appointment and was told that if i ever needed to see him again I would have to go private as the PCT won't pay for any follow up appointments. He comes to my local hospital once a month for 4 hours. The nearest Rheumatology department is 4 hours away.
I'm lucky in that I have a very good GP who handles all my meds etc but it is very frustrating. Will your Rheumy see you privately? It doesnt help that here in the UK there are only about 300 rheumatologists.
Hi scattered. The number of Rheumatologists in the UK is a joke. When you think of how many people suffer RA or related diseases. Its such underated disease too. Everyone i speak to thinks its a bit of pain in the knees and it must be old age coming early, so that shows you just how little the public is aware of it. The hospitals and Doctors are just so understaffed and under funded. Am going to see about private appointment this afternoon.
Good luck with getting the private appt. If your rheumy can't do it, try asking your GP if he can recommend anyone.
Pin Cushion can your GP get your test results from the Rheumy's office. Perhaps if he requested it they would respond, and then you could go over them with him.
A similar thing happened to my mom a couple years ago. She had to have a colonoscopy. While she was having it done she could hear the doctor talking about something and pointing it out to the nurse, but she didn't know what they were talking about. Then, very ironically, the doctor got colon cancer and was out of the office for months and months. My mother couldn't find out anything about her results and it about drove her crazy. When she could catch someone in the doctor's office, they were very unsympathetic, and refused to help her. My mom's GP got the results for her finally, and thank goodness everything was fine, and what he was pointing out was scar tissue from her years of colitis.
OMG Pin, that's awful! Surely you'll be notified if something is serious?
Funnily enough I was going to open a thread regarding time scales, appointment lengths and waiting times on the NHS to see if there was a variation countrywide. Now I realise how well off I am in the capitol. My main gripe is that at my local hospital rheumy appointments are given in 10 minute increments regardless of whether you are a new patient or a regular. One day, after waiting almost two hours, the doc was most apologetic and pointed out that new patients (as I was once) need 40 minutes so that immediately puts everyone else back by half an hour. All they need is three new patients and they have a waiting room full of grumpy people. We all know it's not the doc's fault but the suits upstairs who haven't got a flaming clue. I ask for the first appointment of the day but then I end up being aware of my ten minutes ticking away and keeping others waiting - you can't win! They've done away with the pile of rubbishy mags that you wouldn't be seen dead buying but pounce on in a waiting room, so no entertainment save for the odd batty old dear - I'm hoping that job will be mine someday.
Another quirk is, so I'm told by the rheumy, some gp's won't prescribe mtx. Mine will but not without a good current blood test result........ho hum, the RA nurse tells me that it's not standard practice to inform the gp but if something is amiss the gp and me would be informed sharpish. I can see this is one of many 'cost cutting' measures but it's a pain in the butt to be stuck in the middle.
On the up side.......Seeing my gp to having first appointment with rheumy was only about 6-8 weeks inc 10 day wait for blood results. Rheumy decides when she wants to see me again, usually every 3 or 4 months depending on how she thinks I'm getting along. If there's a problem she contacts me and calls me in asap. The nurse gave me her voicemail number at my first appointment so I can, and have, get advice if I need it before my appointment.The rheumys rotate every 18 months so I do 'get to know' them - unlike gp's,huh!
All in all, I think I'm getting a pretty good service. Wether this is because my local is a teaching hospital or wether the capitol attracts more staff and funds or both I don't know. The catch is I really want to move out of London!
As regards arthritis awareness...............why do some people assume that only old people get arthritis and that all oldies get? Someone told me that I couldn't have RA because I was 'too young' - you gotta laugh sometimes. I don't expect non sufferers to understand, that's fine by me, but I wish those who know sweet FA would keep there gobs shut! Ooops, been typing too long and getting my dander up LOL
Pin Cushion, so sorry you are going through this. Here in Canada we are lucky that we have universal health care (meaning all citizens are covered for doctor/hospital visits, x-rays, mri, blood work etc. but not drugs). BUT, we have a severe doctor shortage. When I moved to this city I was lucky that my husband's (then boyfriend) doctor took me on, however, he is in a nearby town and since I don't drive my hubby has to take off work to get me there. He also only works two days a week so it's not that easy to get an appointment when you need it. Also we have one rheumy for our entire area (approximately 300,000 people) so I go to one in a city two hours away.
I agree that you should see if your family doc can get the results for you. Waiting until August is just plain ridiculous!! Good luck to you.
My G.P cant get access to my MRI Results because its the rheumy that ordered it. I also think that if there was anything serious I would have been told but if its not a back problem then I need to know as the low back pain i am having could be related to something else.Its a crippling pain that has had me screaming lots of times.
Sorry to hear about your mum Hillhoney, thats what worries me in the UK. I am only 42 and i have a voice that doesnt get heard, what about the older people they really dont stand a chance.
Tinker- I love the trashy mags in the docs office and the batty old dears
Dont move to Kent, this is a definate problem area and dont "shut your gob" we all need to open ours and be heard.
Michele you do pay an awful lot for medical care but thats what i tried to do to and was turned down for a health insurance due to RA affecting the immune system.
Anna- what i'm hoping for is to be able to chose my hospital with this new system they have now. I am only 25miles from central London so there is a bit of hope.
Good luck with the results.
I'm really pleased for you Pin. I hope it's a good result.