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Unacceptable and unnecessary wait for skin cancer minor surg...

Posted By Unhappypt

"Unacceptable and unnecessary wait for skin cancer minor surgery."

About: County Hospital Louth / Dermatology

(as the patient),

I went to see my GP with a suspicious looking lesion on my chest, over the last couple of months it had started to change and I suspected a Basal Cell Carcinoma as I have had one in previous years.

My GP put me on an urgent suspicion of skin cancer 2 week referral to Dermatology with ULHT. The 2 weeks turned into four weeks before I could have an initial consultation appointment.

At my consultation the Dr was very kind, they immediately gave a diagnosis of a Basal Cell Carcinoma and said it needed to be removed. I was really shocked that such a small minor surgery was not performed on the day, as happened a few years ago with my previous BCC.

The consultant went on to say that I would be put on the waiting list to have it removed and wait is 8 to 9 months, or apparently I can go private! That would be a cost of £2000 for a ten-minute job, I have paid my dues for almost 50 years and I get told to go private.

Seriously, is this what the NHS has become? Sorry, but I find this unacceptable. In 8 to 9 months the BCC will be bigger, bigger excision, bigger scar. 

I fully understand that the waiting list is prioritised for patients with serious melanomas, so why would I, with a BCC even be on a waiting list? Surely, if my 10-minute minor surgery to remove the lesion was performed on the day, I go away, with my treatment completed and carcinoma removed, freeing up the waiting list for melanoma patients? 

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Responses

Response from Joanne Macken, Service Manager for Dermatology and HCOP (Pan Trust), United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust 2 weeks ago
Joanne Macken
Service Manager for Dermatology and HCOP (Pan Trust),
United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust

Submitted on 16/04/2024 at 14:57
Published on Care Opinion at 14:57

DearUnhappypt

I apologise that you feel that you had an unsatisfactory experience with dermatology. The national standard for 2 week wait referrals has been abolished and we now work to the 28 day diagnosis standard. Our appointment availability at Louth is not as quick as at our larger sites as we do not have a permanent team on site there so if your preference was to be seen at Louth, it unfortunately means a slightly longer wait time on occasion. Our team do as much on the day surgery as they can but with busy clinic lists this is not always possible. Depending on the location and size of your BCC it is unlikely that removing it would be a 10 minute surgery. We are working hard to reduce the wait time for routine surgery but it is currently less than the quoted time. Please do contact us with patient details so we can look into this in more detail.

Joanne.Macken@ULH.nhs.uk

Regards

Joanne

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful

Update posted by Unhappypt (the patient)

Dear Joanne,

Thank you for your response. It’s very much appreciated. I would just like to comment on some of your points if I may.

I would firstly and most importantly like to say I don’t feel my experience was unsatisfactory. My actual appointment with the Doctor was very satisfactory. I was given an immediate diagnosis. The Doctor was very kind, compassionate and caring.

My disappointment came from the long wait to have a very small minor surgery, for the very small size it is at the moment, maybe not 10 minutes, but not much longer. I have previously had both a larger and a smaller BCC removed, the smaller wasn’t very long, 15 minutes. It was very quick and efficient.

Regarding the abolishment of the two week referral, I wasn’t aware of that and neither was my GP! Maybe this information should be escalated down to GP level so everyone is aware. I presume this must be an extremely new protocol?

When the booking clerk rang me to make my appointment, I was initially offered Lincoln as that was, on first appearance going to be quickest. However, the clerk went back into the booking diary to discover that Louth was actually around a week quicker to be seen.

I am glad I didn’t have to make the 90 mile round trip to Lincoln to be put on a long waiting list. If the minor surgery would have been carried out there and then it would have been worth the trip.

Alas, regarding the eight to nine months wait which was quoted, why would that timeframe be quoted if not correct? What is the correct timeframe?

Again, many thanks for your time and response.

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