"Wait for Endometriosis Surgery"

I had a consultation with a gynaecologist in GGC in 2023 who gave me some advice about endometriosis. I came away from the appointment quite disappointed and I opted for a private appointment as a second opinion. During this appointment I was advised that they believed surgery was my best option at that point and advised I contact the gynaecologist's secretary to ask them to consider if that could be an option.

I contacted the secretary and they advised in the notes that gynaecologist had said that surgery was an option, I was never spoken to about this at the appointment and was only advised to change the contraceptive pill I was using.

In October 2024, I was becoming frustrated as I had no word or letter to to update me about anything and I became worried that I wasn't on a waiting list at all. I contacted the gynaecology unit over email, who were incredibly helpful and kind, and was advised the overall wait time was 160 weeks and I was at 73 weeks. I'm assuming the overall is 160 weeks but who knows, as no updates are ever provided. I was advised if my condition has worsened that my GP could put in an urgent referral which I have been refused.

I've still not had anything through or even a text to confirm I still need the appointment and I think this is incredibly poor. It's so unnerving and feels completely out of control to sit and wait and not really having an idea of where you are on the list or a check in to see if your condition has worsened. Why is the onus put on the patient to contact the hospital to find out where they are on a list or how long the list even is? I understand staff are incredibly busy and I appreciate that things are very difficult just now, but more needs to be done to contact patients who are on long waiting lists for reassurance or even just a realistic measurement of how long they should expect to wait.

My condition has considerably worsened over the time I've had to wait and if I had known at the beginning I would be waiting over 3 years I would've probably considered going private at that time. If what was said in October still stands, then realistically I still have over a year to wait. For those with endometriosis whose condition seems to deteriorate and the potential ramifications of that, I think the waiting times are absolutely unbelievable. The potential impact that endometriosis can have on a person's quality of life can be so severe. I think senior management in hospitals needs to seriously consider putting more funding into recovering gynaecology services/ surgery, as I truly believe this is an equalities issue.