"the start of 18 weeks."

I was referred to Charing Cross Hospital for an appointment in July (confirmed with the PCT).

When my operation was cancelled in late afternoon on the 21st December when I had turned up at 7.30 and waited in a gown in a (barely heated) surgical admissions unit before being transferred to a ward just as they were serving lunch (there was no lounge area to escape to), I was more than a little displeased.

I was so annoyed I made a nuisance of myself and asked where I was on the 18 week pathway, to be told it starts on the day a paient is added to the waiting list (this was a month after I was told in clinic I would be added.)

I think it is completely unacceptable for some hospitals to modify the pathway and end up with good ratings and be allowed to apply for Foundation Trust status.