GP referrals: ‘hidden’ waiting times
Latest Healthwatch research follows people's experiences of getting a GP referral finding the process is long and often confusing for many
When you need specialist NHS support, like hospital tests or treatment, you usually need a referral from your GP team first.
Before people get the specialist help they need from hospital teams, there are four stages of waiting. People wait for a GP appointment; they wait for their GP to tell them they will be referred; they wait for the hospital to confirm that referral; and then they join a hospital waiting list.
New research shows:
- 18% of people had to go to four or more appointments with their GP (with the same symptoms) before getting a referral. In some cases this will be appropriate due to the GP wanting to try medication or lifestyle changes first. But patients also gave lots of non-clinical reasons why they felt it took so many appointments – such as only being given phone appointments, appointments feeling rushed, not feeling GP took them seriously etc.
- 1 in 10 (11%) waited four months from their first GP appointment to being told they were going to be referred.
- 1 in 10 also said they waited 4 months between the GP telling them they would be referred and that referral being accepted by the relevant service
- Only 10% people said they were offered a choice of location to go to for their referral.
- Those who waited longer to get a referral (over 3 months) were more than twice as likely seek medical care from other parts of the NHS e.g. A&E.
- One in five (22%) had been sent to their GP to ask for a referral by a health professional at another medical setting.
