[https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/hospitals/guide-to-nhs-waiting-times-in-england/](https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/hospitals/guide-to-nhs-waiting-times-in-england/)
I was referred for non urgent treatment in March. Both my GP and the e-referral service suggested it would be a 3-4 week wait, but the 18 week limit is soon approaching. I previously thought I would have the option of going privately covered by the NHS, as is often discussed in the “right to choose” (I generally see this with people talking about mental health help or psychological assessment, I’m not sure if it applies elsewhere.
I was told if I hadn’t been offered an appointment after 2 months to call them- I did this and was just told “yes I can confirm you’re on the waiting list and we’re not giving estimates of how long this will take”. My NHS app says my referral review is overdue.
Do I have the legal right to start treatment within 18 weeks of being referred? The NHS website seems to lay this out to be true, but doesn’t offer advice on how to ensure this happens. Otherwise, why is this information published on their official website? Can anyone offer any pointers on where to go?
3 comments
Talk to your MP.
It’s government policy for the NHS to have huge waiting lists.
Whilst you may have a legal right, those rights will come with caveats.
One such caveat will be the massive backlog due to Covid.
So, contact your local PALS and see what they say.
Other than that, I suppose, you could contact your MP but even then, if there are people who have been waiting longer than you they will be seen first.
I think the Covid backlog means all that has gone out of the window at the moment, and you rely on goodwill.
Bear in mind tons of this stuff came in as legal in order to let the government say it’s doing good things for the NHS, but with Covid, everything has simply gone wrong.