3 Week wait for Testicular Ultrasound

james66

I had to go private and got it done in a few hours. Public health care is a joke. :mad: How many people who could not afford to go private have had their cancers spread due to long wait times.

YFlyer

A load of balls.

smash

I hope they can find your testicles for you.

Tefral

Who is the nicest guy in the Hospital?


The Ultrasound Guy

RobertKK

james66 wrote: »

I had to go private and got it done in a few hours. Public health care is a joke. :mad: How many people who could not afford to go private have had their cancers spread due to long wait times.

I hope you got good news, and if not I wish you a speedy return to full health.

SEPT 23 1989

I'll find them for three, but I'll catch them, and kill them, for ten.

Nemeses

Geez, All the replies so far and no one wishes the OP best of luck!


Welcome to the internet!

It's possible your GP didn't think it was urgent.

I know someone who last week was referred by their GP, had an ultrasound the same day, and was admitted almost immediately, and operated on the following day. All within the public system.

I hope everything is OK for you OP.

james66

Nemeses wrote: »

Geez, All the replies so far and no one wishes the OP best of luck!


Welcome to the internet!

My balls are fine but 3 weeks just seems insane when dealing with possible cancer.

SpaceTime

I hope all went well for you!

Good luck. I think though there's definitely too much nonsense around access to scanning facilities here. A lot of these tests, particularly ultrasound examinations should be able to be done in a consultants office without much fuss at all.

Nemeses

james66 wrote: »

My balls are fine but 3 weeks just seems insane when dealing with possible cancer.

Glad to hear the good news. Certainly worrying stuff.


Healthcare is a joke. I've private company healthcare with VHI.

I just hope I don't have to use it!

ZiabR

james66 wrote: »

My balls are fine but 3 weeks just seems insane when dealing with possible cancer.

Thats good news! 3 weeks is a job alright, and for such a fast and easy procedure...

RobertKK

Nemeses wrote: »

Geez, All the replies so far and no one wishes the OP best of luck!


Welcome to the internet!

Specsavers might use this for an advert for eye tests.

Nemeses

RobertKK wrote: »

Specsavers might use this for an advert for eye tests.

I hear they do a good offer on jam jars :pac:

comongethappy

Nemeses wrote: »

Healthcare is a joke.

It isn't though.

It's actually pretty good, its just underfunded.

SpaceTime

comongethappy wrote: »

It isn't though.

It's actually pretty good, its just underfunded.

Compounded by being incredibly badly organised.

Highflyer13

Yep it is a joke and people only find out when something is wrong with them or a loved one. In my case I was:

1. Sent to hospital for chest x-ray last Christmas by my GP with severe Bronchitis and difficulty breathing. Breathing difficulties were going on 4 months at this stage.
2. Went to x-ray who told me to back to A&E after me ringing them beforehand and them telling me to go straight to x-ray.
3. Told I'd have to wait in A&E for at least 8hrs to be seen:mad:
4. After 2hrs I had caught the winter vomiting bug
5. Had enough and headed home
6. Came back 2 weeks later still with major breathing difficulties
7. Got x-rayed after 6 hrs. Doctor done some breathing tests which showed problems
8. Put on inhaler and referred to specialist.
9. Got to see respiratory specialist after 6 months in June:eek: and Im still on an inhaler as I get short of breath a lot especially the mornings
10. Will get to see consultant for analysis the respiratory test results and x-ray probably early 2015 Im told.

So I've to keep renewing inhalers until then. The measure of a country is how it treats its sick and vulnerable. Ive paid my taxes since the day I left school and this is the crap I get.

Son Of A Vidic

Deleted User wrote: »

It's possible your GP didn't think it was urgent.

I know someone who last week was referred by their GP, had an ultrasound the same day, and was admitted almost immediately, and operated on the following day. All within the public system.

I hope everything is OK for you OP.

An emergency ultrasound is usually only performed when you are admitted via A&E. And only if there are clinical indications to do so. GP referrals are normally classified as non-emergency and therefore you will be put on a list. That said, some GPs are more proactive & assertive in pushing for their patients scans. Particularly if it is potentially urgent and I'm guessing your friend fell into that category.

Highflyer13

Highflyer13 wrote: »

Yep it is a joke and people only find out when something is wrong with them or a loved one. In my case I was:

1. Sent to hospital for chest x-ray last Christmas by my GP with severe Bronchitis and difficulty breathing. Breathing difficulties were going on 4 months at this stage.
2. Went to x-ray who told me to back to A&E after me ringing them beforehand and them telling me to go straight to x-ray.
3. Told I'd have to wait in A&E for at least 8hrs to be seen:mad:
4. After 2hrs I had caught the winter vomiting bug
5. Had enough and headed home
6. Came back 2 weeks later still with major breathing difficulties
7. Got x-rayed after 6 hrs. Doctor done some breathing tests which showed problems
8. Put on inhaler and referred to specialist.
9. Got to see respiratory specialist after 6 months in June:eek: and Im still on an inhaler as I get short of breath a lot especially the mornings
10. Will get to see consultant for analysis the respiratory test results and x-ray probably early 2015 Im told.

So I've to keep renewing inhalers until then. The measure of a country is how it treats its sick and vulnerable. Ive paid my taxes since the day I left school and this is the crap I get.

I'm sorry that you're having continued breathing difficulties, but I can't help but see that either you left your problems for 4 months before you went about them, or your GP didn't do anything about them for 4 months (neither of these are the HSE's fault).

It sounds to me like your GP didn't give you the correct referral letter which resulted in X Ray not being able to see you directly (chest xrays are usually a walk in appointment with the correct referral).

You then chose to leave the hospital and not return for 2 weeks (winter vomiting bug generally has an incubation period of around 24 hours).

Don't get me wrong, there are major major issues within the HSE that need to be fixed, but you did not help yourself much at all judging of course only by what you've posted so you can't entirely blame the HSE.

Corvus Maximus wrote: »

An emergency ultrasound is usually only performed when you are admitted via A&E. And only if there are clinical indications to do so. GP referrals are normally classified as non-emergency and therefore you will be put on a list. That said, some GPs are more proactive & assertive in pushing for their patients scans. Particularly if it is potentially urgent and I'm guessing your friend fell into that category.

Yes, it was via A&E, their GP thought it was urgent enough to go directly to A&E and they were right to do so. My implication was, that the OP's GP may not have been overly concerned about his symptoms. That's very little use to a worried patient of course, I have been that worried patient myself, and I work in private healthcare so I'm aware of how much better it is to go private.

westcoast66

I went in to A&E with a dislocated finger. Waited for 8 hours and kept having other more important cases jumped ahead of me. Eventually, a fellow patient yanked my finger back into place. I then went home. Never even got a follow up call to check where I had gone and if I was OK.

Berserker

james66 wrote: »

I had to go private and got it done in a few hours. Public health care is a joke. :mad: How many people who could not afford to go private have had their cancers spread due to long wait times.

What I would give for that. I have private insurance, a hefty policy too and my doctor wants me to go to have a similar scan/appointment with a urologist. The appointment with my local doctor cost me €65 and I haven't heard a word back from the private hospital regarding the appointment yet. My doctor sent the correspondence two weeks ago.

Balmed Out

I was referred by a GP,consultant appointment less then a week later, ultrasound half hour later and another consultant appointment an hour later. Tumor removed the next day and only the day after was I asked did I have insurance.

The Master

cronin_j wrote: »

Who is the nicest guy in the Hospital?


The Ultrasound Guy

And who is the nicest guy when he's not there?

The hip replacement guy

Berserker

Balmed Out wrote: »

I was referred by a GP,consultant appointment less then a week later, ultrasound half hour later and another consultant appointment an hour later. Tumor removed the next day and only the day after was I asked did I have insurance.

I went for an ultrasound a while ago and stupidly assumed that I would just have to quote my insurance details to cover the cost, as the scan is covered by my policy. Alas no, I have to pay for it myself and claim it back afterwards. Thankfully, I had €200 to spare, so paying wasn't an issue but the same wouldn't be the case for a lot of people.

Nemeses

comongethappy wrote: »

It isn't though.

It's actually pretty good, its just underfunded.

It is a joke when it is badly organised, not enough staff, lack of funding etc etc
The services itself would be within reason.. but overall experience.. Yeah. Its still a joke.

A major revamp is what is required.

P_1

OP glad to hear you got the all clear. It sounds like your GP diagnosed it as being non urgent, hence you unfortunately having to play the waiting game. Trust me I've got the tshirt and the scar from having a GP notice something as urgent. Well done on going to the GP about it too, it seems quite a lot of men have a difficulty about that.

whirlpool

*waits for someone to say why our health service is perfectly acceptable because it's better than the health service in some other countries*

I'm actually shocked that argument hasn't been posted yet.

comongethappy

whirlpool wrote: »

*waits for someone to say why our health service is perfectly acceptable because it's better than the health service in some other countries*

I'm actually shocked that argument hasn't been posted yet.

In Yemen its crap.

Try not to be too shocked!

IvyTheTerrible

whirlpool wrote: »

*waits for someone to say why our health service is perfectly acceptable because it's better than the health service in some other countries*

I'm actually shocked that argument hasn't been posted yet.

Also in before someone compares our health service to that of some third world country.