"Gynaecology RTT times currently >30 weeks"

On the NHS website, it says things like:

"The maximum waiting time for non-urgent, consultant-led treatments is 18 weeks from the day your appointment is booked through the NHS e-Referral Service, or when the hospital or service receives your referral letter."

and

"have the right to access certain services commissioned by NHS bodies within maximum waiting times, or for the NHS to take all reasonable steps to offer a range of suitable alternative providers if this is not possible"

Neither of these things has happened at Musgrove. Since being referred from my GP, I have:

- met with a consultant who failed to give direct answers to direct questions

- had a diagnostic procedure

- a date for another meeting with a consultant (c. 32 RTT), and no date for surgery. I suspect that will be in the region of 36 to 40 weeks RTT

- repeatedly had emails ignored by the consultant's secretary

I have yet to receive treatment. My current RTT is over 30 weeks. I have pointed this out to a senior member of the patient centred care team, and the service director for part of the hospital. They failed to provide a sensible explanation for the delay in providing treatment. They have pointed out that the Trust has no legal obligation to adhere to the RTT times. Rather it is "clinical (and moral) prioritisation". They did not explain why someone who desperately needs surgery - and has been waiting over 30 weeks - is not a clinical or moral priority.

Since I have no quality of life, and my condition is absolutely destroying my physical and mental health, I don't know quite what to make of that. The surgery I need is commonplace and straightforward, so there is really no reason for the delay.

Musgrove Park staff have made no effort to help me find treatment elsewhere via "alternative providers". This is despite me asking about how I could be treated elsewhere. The gynaecology department is currently claiming that 90 % of patients have an RTT of up to 22 weeks. I do not know if that is inaccurate, or if I have just drawn the short straw somewhere down the line.

I honestly do not know how they can justify a wait for treatment of >30 weeks. It's appalling.

I would like to add that - when things actually work - Musgrove is one of the better hospitals.