"Waiting List - but how long?"

My 5 year old child was put on a waiting list to get a first ever appointment just to assess his condition which would then require surgery.

We’ve grown to accept that even young children have to wait ages to be seen by specialists, unless they are being seriously ill.

However, I cannot accept the apparent lack of meaningful communication about waiting times.

We received the letter following the well known “apology, expressing empathy, offering reassurance” template. Except for “we will contact you as soon as possible” is not reassuring at all, unless you tell if we should expect days, weeks, months or years.

Nobody ever doubted the Nhs is working hard, but we need you to be transparent on what you can deliver, so that we could make the best decisions for our children.

Should we just wait for the appointment, or go private, or go abroad for medical treatment? I won’t know unless you start to share how long your waiting lists are.