Gp Referral: Fill & Download for Free

My 91 year-old father and I go to the same GP. I had gone with my dad to a specialist without GP referral. After tests, the specialist wanted to do an invasive procedure, and wanted a waiver in case open heart surgery would be required. We demurred and returned to GP.GP told us of a similar case, which the patient opted to treat aggressively. The patient was dead 30 days later.As we were leaving his office, GP’s hand was on my shoulder. Dad was out of earshot. “I have a cardinal rule,” GP said, under his breath.Me: “What's that, Doc?”GP: “Don’t fuck with old people.”

What do you want and which pathway are you on? It’s also important to remember that the targets are backstops; most patients are seen much faster than the below but the NHS publishes a lot about the targets we have so that we actually know who we’re seeing and what’s slipping through the cracks.If it is a life threatening emergency then you call 999 (the American 911 and the European 112 also work (111 also gets medical attention but will not summon an ambulance)), an ambulance with trained paramedics will get to you in a matter of minutes (time depending on location; the ambulances can blue light and cars will get out of the way but ambulances can’t teleport; if necessary there are helicopters) and will provide assistance there and take you to the hospital ASAP if you need it.If you turn up at A&E (Accident & Emergency - ER for Americans) you will be almost immediately triaged by an experienced nurse who talks to you and looks at the problems.If the nurse thinks you need care ASAP you’ll be triaged to the front of the queue and be waiting minutes, or possibly even seconds if it’s immediately life threatening.If the nurse thinks it’s basically a papercut or malingering you’ll be triaged to the back of the queue and be seen when there’s a lull in activity.It’s a five point scale based on need (“Immediate resuscitation”, “Very urgent”, “Urgent”, “Standard”, “Non-urgent”). Even as non-urgent you should be admitted or discharged within four hours (with slack in the target because you want to leave some of the patients in A&E for observation for a few hours) but Coalition/Tory underfunding lost control of that target. There’s a new target coming in at 1 hour for urgent or above cases and this is generally met anyway.If you know it’s not urgent but want it seen soon there are two options - your GP or an NHS Walk-In Center.If it’s a complete emergency they should squeeze you in on the day - and they will send you straight to be admitted.If you’re going to a walk-in center bring a book. You will be seen either that day or told to come back tomorrow - but you may be waiting a while.There are no statistics on how long to see your GP and how it’s different is different throughout the country; my current GP is amazing and I’ve always been seen on the day by them but this is not universal. Then the GP generally either prescribes antibiotics (then and there) or a number of other treatments including painkillers or refers you on to hospital for more compex cases.If it’s suspected cancer (although only about 5% of suspected cancers turn out to be cancer - better safe than sorry) you’re on the fast-track 62 day pathway (and you’re on a parallel pathway at the same speed for screening). The national standards on this pathway are:Two weeks from referral by the GP to first outpatient appointment or first diagnostic test if straight to diagnostics. More than 97% of patients get this, and most of the rest are due to patient choice. Most hospitals try to do this appointment within a week rather tha two but how they succeed is not published and the median wait is I believe under a week.28 days from GP referral to either diagnosis or discharge. There are no published statistics on how frequently this is done as it is a new target that we started monitoring in earnest last July and are only going to start publishing in April (probably).38 days from GP referral to a referral to a specialist cancer center for particularly complex patients. Again not published.62 days from GP referral for suspected cancer to first definitive treatment - that is the first thing that could cure the cancer, whether chemo, surgery, or something else. The national target is 85% (some cancers are complex to diagnose and so take a while - especially as some diagnostic tests interfere with others and require time to heal - and some patients go on holiday or have other issues) and from memory we’re meeting that target nationally.31 days from the decision that the patient needs treatment until the treatment commences. In practice this is an almost entirely redundant target as the turnround for treatments are much faster than that except in cases where the patient needs extensive workup or is the sort to go on holiday.If it’s a non-urgent condition things are much slower alas.Six weeks from a non-urgent referral to a diagnostic test is the target (and overwhelmingly met); this is the main thing people use private healthcare to shorten.Eighteen weeks from GP referral to first definitive treatment is the target for all patients.The median wait from GP referral to outpatient treatment for non-urgent conditions is six weeks and to inpatient treatment is about ten weeks - but complex diagnostic pathways, squeezed resources, and administrative incompetence can take a whole lot longer.52 weeks from a proceedure being declared as needed by a consultant post-diagnosis to it taking place means the hospital CEO will be called on to justify themselves and no one wants that.That’s the main targets to treatment and how we do nationally at most of them anyway.

It shouldn't be done as an alternative.Most research studies don't actually focus on direct clinical diagnosis. They're also experimental; the purpose is to answer a question, not diagnose or monitor you.However, researchers like myself always appreciate volunteers! It makes our lives easier.