"Overworked & underfunded"

From my appointment I can only conclude that it's likely that the whole NHS will fall apart over the next few years. The 'consultant' I saw seemed far more interested in giving me reasons why I wasn't 'as bad' as many of the other patients she sees than actually diagnosing the reason I have had joint pain for six months. Absolutely no help at all. Worse actually, just confused me and depressed me further. Even the nurse who did my blood test agreed that unless you are critically bad they are not interested in treating you. She agreed that it shouldn't be like that but is because of funding issues. So overall... from my experience I would say; don't wait on a list for months and months, if you can, just go private.