 OUR 31-year-old son has recently found blood in his stools. He has had a sample done and doctors have told him it could be several things. One being Crohn's disease, as he also gets bloated from certain foods and gets very tired. He had a letter to book an appointment at the hospital for a camera investigation. However, he has been told there is a 78-week wait just for an appointment. We are at our wits' end with trying to get one earlier. Any advice on what else we can do? A) UNDERSTANDABLY you must be feeling anxious. Seventy-eight weeks does sound like a really long time When referrals are sent to hospital specialists they are usually triaged by a trained nurse or doctor. They can prioritise who needs to be seen most urgently and then appointments are offered accordingly. Waiting times are unfortunately long in many cases at the moment, as hospitals are still recovering from the knock-on effects of the pandemic. But one silver lining of a long wait time is that the clinician who triaged your son's case is not overly concerned. Some reassurance can sometimes be taken from this outcome. If your son has been waiting for more than 18 weeks and is willing to travel further afield in order to be seen sooner, then you are entitled to be seen at a different NHS trust. Find out more about this at healthcompare.co.uk. Things can change while you're waiting and if this happens with your son, particularly if there are new symptoms or there is increasing severity, it's important he updates his){kind=link}
THERE’S no topic too embarrassing for you to discuss with your GP. Honestly, we’ve seen, heard and examined it all!
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