Consultations and Surgery in UK National Health Service

[Geoff]

This thread is only relevant to members with experience of getting treatment on the NHS (National Health Service) in UK. I don't know how many members this applies too, but I'd be very grateful for any advice.

My problem with the NHS is not with the actual surgery, which I can't judge, but rather with the long delays between appointments, the inaccessibility of consultants, and the very brief and unsatisfactory nature of consultations when they have happened. I have only seen the surgeon who operated on me twice, and on one of these occasions he seemed very impatient. Worst of all, the date I have been given for a post-operation consultation is three months after the event - I still have another few weeks to go. No other aftercare or advice is available. The only way I can communicate with the surgeon is by letter, and he does not always reply. This is despite the fact that my operation has had no positive effect, and my condition seems to be deterioriating.

Although I have had a second opinion from another surgeon in another hospital, this also entails long waits, and he has been understandably reluctant to intervene while I am still waiting to see the original surgeon.

All my efforts to speed things up or get further advice seem to have misfired. I get the impression that I have just annoyed people and made them less likely to help. This is not a nice atmosphere to be in when you are ill.

So I wonder if any UK member have any experience of dealing with this kind of situation, or advice on what the best strategy might be.