Derby Royal waiting list

[Montana]

I received a letter today saying that they've now put me on the waiting list at Derby Royal and that my listing date was 1st May. They also added in the letter that I *should not* ring them to find out where I am on the list and should just wait for them to contact me...how annoying as I'd planned to contact them weekly to jolly them along a bit

I guess now I just sit back and wait! Has anyone got any experience of Derby and how long their waiting times are? They told me six months initially but I'm never that lucky.

H x

 

[preetypee]

all will be well, just be patient hun. xx

 

[sicknote]

I received a letter today saying that they've now put me on the waiting list at Derby Royal and that my listing date was 1st May. They also added in the letter that I *should not* ring them to find out where I am on the list and should just wait for them to contact me...how annoying as I'd planned to contact them weekly to jolly them along a bit

I guess now I just sit back and wait! Has anyone got any experience of Derby and how long their waiting times are? They told me six months initially but I'm never that lucky.

H x

Hi,
I'd blooming well ring them!!! just say you thought it said DO ring them :8855:, what can they do slap you on the wrist and send you to your room lol, at the end of the day its your surgery and your life so i say ring them, not only that but to make sure they've got all your contact details and surely they could be polite enough to give you an approx month x hope you hear something soon xxx

 

[bigkevb]

i got put on the list at derby 03/12/10 and had my op 12/05/11 so i waited around 6 months . i have a friend who has been on the list about 3 months and he has just received his date through 15/09/11 so again about 6 monthish ........although some folks have been told it's 12 months so i'm not 100%

the team at derby are great , right from the surgeon to the nurses . i ws really happy with my op and aftercare , hope this helps . if you wantany more info plesae pm me and i'll do my best to help

 

[VeronicaT]

Unfortunately its now nearly a year. I have been on the list since march, so probably nine months wait for me. There is no way to jump the queue either, so don't bother phoning ( been there and done that!!) it will just upset you and make no difference in the end. I had a real go at them when i had my last appointment - mis-management etc, send some to Sheffield for their op, send them to a private hospital to reduce the queues, but it made no difference.
Sorry to be so negative, but i have been living with this info for a while now. Lets face it, if its sooner it will be a nice surprise xx

 

[bigkevb]

my friend got his letter on the 31/03/11 saying he is on the waiting list , he was given his date at the end of may for the 15/09/11 ......

 

[Montana]

This is nuts, how can one person wait nearly a year and still have no date yet someone else gets a date after being on the list two months! I can only hope im one of the ones that gets my date after two months, which will be at the end of july! I wonder if it has anything to do with which PCT is funding the op? I've got my "just checking that you're still loosing weight" appointment with the dietician the first week in July so I'll enquire about waiting times again then.

H x

 

[DietingDeb]

After my first appointment with Mr Ahmed I had to wait for the funding to come through which takes approx 3 months - it is from there you go on the 6 months waiting list, I got a phone call on the 8th of December 2010 and was told to start my pre-op diet straight away as I was in for surgery on the 21st of December so they where right about the 6 months but I didn't get any notice lol.

Kev was bang on right about Derby being brilliant from the surgeon to the nurses on the ward, Helen is Mr Ahmeds assistant and although she is lovely she doesn't take any cr*p and calling just won't help.

Next week I will be 6 months post op and I can't believe the difference this has made to my life but bear in mind this is only a tool and you can still start the journey yourself however hard you might think it is it will benefit you when you go for surgery, I spend those 6 months making a change to my diet and I really do feel like it benefitted me in the long run - good luck x x x

 

[VeronicaT]

I telephoned Derby pals last week. They were supposed to call me back, but didn't! Sooo I phoned them again today, and eventually spoke to Sue ( who is lovely).

She said:

1 No patients from any other area have jumped the queue, and there is no agreement to this effect with any other hospital.

2 She has been assured that no patients have jumped the queue - all are having to wait, and many are complaining to Pals.

3. Top management of bariatric surgery realize there is a problem with the waiting list being so long, and are currently having meetings to consider employing another surgeon to try to shorten the list.

She was very definite that we are all having to wait the same, and that they are trying to reduce the waiting time by employing more staff.


Lets wait and see if it will end up being less than a year - I am not holding my breath.

 

[nichola24]

ive been waiting 7 months almost and still no word on date so dont get ur hopes up on it being sooner rather than later, thats what i did and it was very upsetting when i found out i was no where near even after the period in which they told me id be likely to get my op :-(

ive recently joinced slimming world, and i feel great about myself! lost quite a bit of weight in a short period of time and actually not thinkin of my op all the time!! only thing is i no i will end up puttin all the weight bk on so i hope my op is soon lol xx

hope all goes well with you and your journey

 

[Montana]

You've hit the nail right on the head there nichola with regards to putting the weight back on!

We're all having this op because although we may be able to lose weight, we CAN NOT maintain that loss long term. The letter I received said that if I was to put on any weight during my time on the waiting list then my op would be cancelled. If we're weighed at the beginning of this journey and again 3 months later as I will have been and have lost weight, what then happens if a year down the line you're still waiting and have gone back to your original weight at your first appointment....you get kicked off the list. It's almost as if they're setting you up to fail.

I'm an expert when it comes to losing weight, but unfortunately I'm also an expert at putting it back on again as the last 20 years of yo-yo dieting has shown!!

Really fed up now...here was me stupidly telling my family that I was looking at being 'done' in November this year, but from what you guys have experienced this could now be May next year...so frustrating

I'm seeing the dietician again at Derby on Thursday next week so I'll see if I can get any information from her with regards to realistic waiting times!

H x

 

[VeronicaT]

Montana, good luck with your next appt. Can you ask the dietician what will happen if we have put a bit of weight back on, but we are still less that when we started. Because of the long waiting list, do we still have our op stopped?
That is what am scared of too, because I am really struggling at the moment.........

 

[BeaBea]

I had surgery on 22nd November 2011 and I did have to wait a long while as at first my funding was refused, not sure why though. It is frustrating and I can empathise with you. From what I can remember when I had surgery there were some extra dates put on and I was lucky enough to get one of those. The only thing about this is that they have to fit in theatre time too.

The wait in the end was very much worth it. Royal Derby were brilliant from start to finish and even with a few minor problems Mr Ahmed took the time to phone me at home himself, how many would do that.

Last Wednesday I went for a follow up appointment and was just under seven months out. I was told that people are expected to lose 70 per cent of their excess weight in the first year and I had lost 65 per cent. As you can imagine I was delighted. It really has been worth the wait and I am over the moon with the results ... over the last six weeks I have really slowed down though and I was informed by the dietician that this is normal.

I really hope it's not too long a wait for you all, I hope it all goes well and just to remind you that you will be in the best of hands.

 

[Montana]

Montana, good luck with your next appt. Can you ask the dietician what will happen if we have put a bit of weight back on, but we are still less that when we started. Because of the long waiting list, do we still have our op stopped?
That is what am scared of too, because I am really struggling at the moment.........

Will do Vron! I'm actually there tomorrow morning not next Thursday (got my dates mixed up) so will have a response sooner rather than later hopefully

H x

 

[Montana]

Well, had my appointment today and it's good news and bad news!

Good news = I've lost 3 stone since my first appointment in November :bliss:

Bad news = the Derby Royal waiting list is now a minimum of 12 months so I am indeed looking at May next year rather than November this year:cry:If anybody goes above the 12 months one of the managers will look into it and see what they can do, but apart from that you're pretty much stuffed until a date becomes available.

On the whole subject of putting on weight prior to surgery, the dietician said that putting on weight isn't a massive problem unless you go back to or above your original starting weight.

With all this in mind, I went straight to the local gym on the way home and joined up!!

H x

 

[nichola24]

hey montana xxx

thanks for finding that information out, ive been trying to call helen, the surgeons secretary but just cnt get thru :-(

its so depressing thts its such a long wait now!

im just trying to focus on other things now to keep my mind off it, its all you can do, otherwise you go crazy!

thts amazing about how much weight uve lost! my weight has been up and down ova the past 18 months since this process strarted and if i hadnt have joined slimmining world id have been 6kg ova!! its v difficult for ppl who have problems with food to loose and maintian weight ova such a long time especially wen you see the dietician once or twice and then thts it till the op!

id like to join a gym but im scared im too big for the equipment :-( want to join a class but i wouldnt be able to keep up, probs best to have an ambulance on stand by lol. atm i walk the dog for about 30 mins so i suppose thts a start....

ne how good luck with your journey and let us now how it all goes

 

[VeronicaT]

Thanks Montana - I haven't been on for a while, so was interested to see what they said to you. I am not on the forum much at the moment cos waiting was driving me mad, so am getting on with other things and trying not to think about it.

 

[debbieb]

i got my op date today, 29th december...new year, new me...yes i will be in over new year, but i can't wait... it will be worth it in the end. x

 

[JO28172]

Good on you Debbie!!!! x

 

[Kath in Buxton]

I was done at Derby, and I think I waited between 6 and 9 months from being told I was officially on the waiting list. Mr Ahmed is worth the wait though, he's a very good surgeon