"I have waited 17 weeks for my operation so far"

After various blood tests my GP referred me for an ultrasound which confirmed that I had gallstones. They referred me to FVRH for an outpatients appointment.

After consultation I opted for the removal of my gallbladder through keyhole surgery, I was told that before the surgery could take place I would need an MRI scan also. I was told that the waiting times for scan were not long, however after 7 weeks I reluctantly called my GP to see if they could find out what was happening and they told me to contact the XRay Dept at FVRH to see when my appointment would be.

I did this, to be told I wasn't even on the list! They advised to call the consultants secretary, which I did, and they couldn't explain why this had happened & promised to call me back, but didn't. So I called back the next day to discover that the secretary was on holiday for a fortnight & no one could tell me if anything had been done to get me an MRI appointment.

I finally decided to call the patient relations people who eventually found out for me that I was to get a scan on the 2nd June - 9 weeks (not 6 as per the website) after seeing consultant. I called the secretary again the next week to be told it could take up to 3 weeks for the results to go to the consultant. After 3 weeks had passed I called again to be told that the consultant was now on holiday, (good for him I had to cancel mine) and the letter advising me that I was to get my gallbladder removed couldn't be sent out as no one could sign it!

The letter did arrive and I had my pre-op 16 weeks after 1st consultation. I called to find out if they had any idea how much longer I would need to wait, to be told although I had a letter guaranteeing no longer than 12 weeks they are running a little bit behind with surgery waiting times! Which in effect means having already waited now 17 weeks (not the 12 stated on the website, from initial consultation) I may have to wait 26 weeks plus! As you can imagine I'm totally fed up with the full experience and I've not even had my op yet.