Public Hospital waiting times.

daithicarr

I'm not sure if this is the right forum, but I was wondering if there is any information available on the waiting times you should expect to see a consultant in the hospital ?

And if there is anywhere you can query the waiting time, apart from the hospital , who informed me its the soonest available.


I had severe chest pains a year ago, within the space of two weeks I was seen by various professionals, who initially told me i had a incurable degenerative lung disease , and then at the end of the two weeks that what ever lung infection i had was cleared by the antibiotics. (this was through private health cover)

Then 5 months ago the pains came back, and i had to wait 5 MONTHS, to be seen by a respiratory specialist. Who with just one xray told me he couldn't find a problem ( the previous time i had a whole range of tests including a xray) and that he would refer me to the Cardiac unit.

I got my Cardiac appointment today, which is over 6 months away. Is it normal to be waiting the best part of a year just to have someone diagnose your problem, not to mind treat it ?

In the last 5 months my chest pains went from mildly unpleasant to at times quite painful. Id hate to think what another 6 months of waiting will do.

Is there anywhere i can query this? the Hospital were not helpful at all.

Vorsprung

The wait time is based on a few things, firstly the general state of the waiting list, if you have loads of urgent cases that need to be seen, then there is a backlog despite being urgent. It would be pretty poor if this wait was 6 months long, but it is happening.

Secondly, the service you've been referred to can only triage your case on the basis of the information its received, so that's the letter your referring doctor sent you.

Regardless of all that, you're right that in most cases no-one should wait a year to have a problem seen to, getting it sorted out might be another issue if it's not an obvious diagnosis.

Re: finding out the length of waiting lists, I don't think that's information hospitals hand out too readily.

You mentioned that you had private cover, would that be an option this time round?

daithicarr

i had private cover but lost it with my job. Maybe i should get a loan and buy some cover.

If im already waiting for a public appointment can i then go off and look for a private one else where? Arent you often going to the same doctor anyway?

At this rate it could be an insanely long time before i get any diagnosis , let alone treatment.

L1011

As insurance has lapsed, you'll have a wait period on medical insurance. You won't get a loan to pay for procedures directly anywhere.

Squiggle

daithicarr wrote: »

i had private cover but lost it with my job. Maybe i should get a loan and buy some cover.

If im already waiting for a public appointment can i then go off and look for a private one else where? Arent you often going to the same doctor anyway?

At this rate it could be an insanely long time before i get any diagnosis , let alone treatment.

Here you will find public waiting lists by speciality for public hospitals. You can pay for private health care any time you want - not too many will refuse money !! Now if you were to fall in a heap in pain and brought to a hospital A and E in an ambulance you'd be well cared for by the appropriate consultants !!!! The irony :rolleyes:

Vorsprung

Squiggle wrote: »

Here you will find public waiting lists by speciality for public hospitals. You can pay for private health care any time you want - not too many will refuse money !! Now if you were to fall in a heap in pain and brought to a hospital A and E in an ambulance you'd be well cared for by the appropriate consultants !!!! The irony :rolleyes:

Good find!

frenchmartini

thanks for that link.

My 8 year old has a 2 year wait to see a paediatric neurologist in Crumlin. We are going to have to find the money from somewhere to have him seen by Dr McC.

professore

As another poster said, you would be wasting your time and money getting health insurance for this particular condition as there is a waiting period for everything, pre-existing or not, and a longer waiting time for pre-existing conditions, in the order of years. So waste of money.