"Waiting times"

Dear hawkyf38:

I am sorry that you are experiencing a long wait for your appointment.

The reason for the increased length of the wait is a phenomeneon known as stacking.

What happens is that when a patient gets to the top of the waiting list, and is seen for assessment, in line with best practice they are then given follow up appointments. Unfortunately this has the unintended consequence of reducing the overall number of appointments available for patients still on the waiting list and as a result they have to wait longer.

A number of measures have been put in place to try and manage the length of the wait.

The clinic has employed 3 new members of staff and they are now in a position to start to see new patients for assessment.

The clinic protocol has also been reviewed in order to safely reduce the length of the assessment process, where it is clinically appropriate, it is anticipated that this will have a positive impact on the waiting list in due course.

The clinic has worked very hard to reduce the number of missed appointments, this is now half what it was, so this too will have a positive impact on the waiting list.

The clinical lead has been working with staff to ensure that they are working efficiently and have the maximum number of appointments available for patients.

The demand for the clinic continues to grow and this unfortunately outstrips its capacity; both the trust and the comissioners (NHS England) are aware and the clinical lead will continue to talk to them to see if there is anything else that can be done.

I have spoken to the clinic administrator today who confirms that the current wait is 2 years, they are now sending out appointments to patients who were referred in January 2016.

If you need some additional support while you continue to wait I would advise that you contact your GP & once again I would like to apologise for wait and the distress that this is causing.

Kind Regards: