"Backlog of patients in this department"

Have stage 4 A2 kidney disease and was referred by my GP to Stepping Hill Nephrology Department to see a consultant.

Appointment was supposedly delayed by 4 weeks due to too many patients seeking appointments. When I got my appointment last year to come in and see a consultant, I got to see an administrator who asked me some questions about my condition and took some blood samples for analysis.

I was told I would be seen in three months for a follow-up appointment which would have brought me to March 2024. March came and went without a peep from Nephrology so did April, and now we are in May, and I still have not heard from Nephrology on when I will get a follow up appointment.

I have contacted the Department on three occasions to ask them why the delay and the answer I got back was I am in the queue to be seen but it will take 8 to 9 months to be seen. As I am a Stage 4 CKD I find the way that patient prioritizing to see the consultant quite ridicules and not very helpful at all.

It seems to me that more resources are required at Stepping Hill to overcome the backlog of patients in this department.