"Long wait and no info for result"

A month ago I had a worrying mole removed at the New Victoria dermatology clinic. I had to wait ten weeks for the appointment, even though it was supposed to be an urgent referral. The staff who removed it were very kind and professional and told me to expect a result from the biopsy in about two weeks - again it was sent marked as urgent.

However, 2 weeks passed and I did not get a letter with any results, so I phoned the department to be told it may now be 4 weeks. During this time my mental health suffered severely due to the anxiety of potentially having melanoma. I asked for support for this from my GP, but unfortunately what they offered did not give me the short-term relief I needed.

As 4 weeks has now passed, I phoned the department again to be told there is still no result available and no indication of when to expect it. The staff who answer the phone are abrupt to the point of rudeness and unempathetic - clearly they are unhappy that I am phoning but I don’t think I am being unreasonable in chasing this up now that both timescales I’ve been given have passed with no result.

At this point the stress and anxiety has taken over and my quality of life is very poor. I understand there is probably a backlog of tests, but it is only increasing the stress when timescales are given that cannot be adhered to (or may be entirely made up to get me off the phone, who knows). Twice now I have tried to cope with the mounting worry by telling myself it will only be a few more days etc, but both times this has turned out not to be the case, it’s an emotional rollercoaster.

Staff could also be kinder when speaking to patients on the phone and stop the rude remarks about me not knowing my CHI number (why would I have this to hand?) as this isn’t an appropriate way to speak to anyone, but even less so people who are naturally scared and anxious.