"Surgery Waiting Time"

I was referred to NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde for surgery in November 2014 by my GP due to a recurring Pilonidal Abscess infection.

I was eventually offered a surgery consultation in April 2015 at which point it was decided that I would be placed on the waiting list for General Surgery.

I received a letter shortly after the consultation to confirm my place on the waiting list and to Guarantee an appointment within a 12 week period.

Subsequently I had a pre-op appointment in June at which point I was advised that the surgery date should follow shortly. It is now November 2015, I have still had no offer of an appointment, despite still having further recurrences of the infection. I have contacted the appointments booking team many times, each of these times I am transferred from pillar to post before being told I am still on the waiting list and that is it.

I have also been advised recently that my surgeon and their secretary have both retired, which leads me to believe that I have fallen between the gap somewhere and this is the reason I still have no offer of an appointment.

This infection has caused me unbelievable amounts of stress and problems, not only with my health, but also in my work life. I was dismissed from my job due to the amount of sickness absence that I have had as a result. Whilst I managed to get re-instated through an appeal, my employers had expected that my surgery would have been carried out by now and are going to lose their patience with the repeated absences due to the health board not being able to meet their requirements for surgical appointments.

I feel that this issue needs to be addressed as a year down the line I am still suffering frequent infections and there is nothing being done by health board to try and fix this issue.

I am also very disappointed that there has been no further attempt to contact me by the health board to explain why I have been waiting so long, the service is actually rather appalling.

The story is not specifically about one hospital, it is about NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde surgical waiting times overall.