"Waiting time: Misled again and again"

 I’ve lost faith in NHS Grampians ability to tell the truth when asked direct question about waiting times and when I would receive my appointment. Firstly on the advise of my GP in late 2017 for long standing lower abdominal pain and hip pain I was referred to the Physio department at the Health Village to see a specialist lower limb physio as they said they were unable to do so without doing this.  

At my first appointment with the physio, I was advised that it would be best to try physiotherapy first as they could definitely see there was an issue with my hip. I agreed to this as it was explained the orthopaedics would not see me until I had tried this and it would also speed up my referral to them when the time comes to only a few week. In August 2018 I was reassessed by the physio lower limb specialist following an ultrasound scan and advised that they would refer me to an orthopaedic specialist. When directly asked how long it would take to get an appointment, I was told that because the referral was coming from a physio, I had done a course of physio sessions over months my referral would be seen more quickly within a month or two. They physio took time to reassure me that I would not have to wait longer than a month or two after I had explained that it had been having a great impact on my life and employment.  

6months later I had still not received my appointment through and them received an unexpected call from someone at Aberdeen Royal Infimary confirming that I was still needing the referral. I was astonished to receive this phone call and there was a total lack of compassion for the amount of time that I had been waiting. I explained on the phone that I was told the appointment would have only been a maximum of two months after referral and it was now six months. When asked directly how long it would take for the appointment to come through, I was told it would only be a few weeks.  

I am now writing this 8weeks since my last contact and I have still not received my appointment. I have been waiting 8months for an appointment that I was told would take no longer than 2months to come through.  

While I have been waiting for this appointment to come through, I have continued to have daily pain that restricts what I can do and has a significant impact on my mental health, physical health and employment. Because of this, my employer has carried out multiple occupational health assessment to try and support me at work, which ultimately resulted in being given the choice to either return to my full job responsibilities or loose my job as they would no longer be able to support me with reduced responsibilities. With the risk of losing my job, I was left with no option but to suffer with the pain and return to my full job responsibilities. This has had such an impact on my life that I’m unable to do the majority of the things I enjoy because I return home from work in significant amounts of pain. Not only physically has this had an impact on me, my mental health as been greatly affected as well.  

I have continued to be misled by multiple people within NHS Grampian. I have done everything that has been asked of me from their advice, but been let down by the lack of accurate information on when I would receive my appointment. Effectively my life has been put on hold, when I should be enjoying life rather than being left hanging.  

When will I get my appointment? 

Waiting time

Appointments