Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi all, does anyone know roughly how long it might take from when my GP referred me to when I hear something? Am I correct in assuming that there should be some kind of letter acknowledging the referral at some point? I know I'm probably being a bit impatient seeing as according to the receptionist at the GP surgery my referral was sent on the 18th of Jan but I have others (Shaw Trust - I've been on the Work and Health Programme since March 2018 and the ASD penny only dropped for me in November after struggling all year) that are encouraging me to keep chasing up at my GP where I am and I really don't want to make a nuisance of myself. I was hoping people might share how long they had to wait as an adult before they had some kind of initial confirmation after their GP had sent their referral as I'm finding this being in limbo stage quite difficult.
Thanks for reading
I would have thought it would be more normal to get a letter than not-my experience with getting referred for other health issues in different places is almost always getting a letter to say your GP has referred you to such-and-such a service-but it does seem to depend on area. If you haven't had anything, I would contact them to check they've received the referral (if you know what service it is, but you could probably get this info from your GP if you're not sure) and whether you are on the waiting list. Personally, in such a situation I would want to check it had all gone smoothly; the last thing you want to do is wait around for months only to find out something has gone awry (the referral has been refused, or sent to the wrong place, or mislaid and not sent at all etc) and you could have known and sorted it out a lot sooner.
It took just over 3 weeks after I'd seen my GP for my referral to be processed and for me to get a letter to say I was on a waiting list with my local autism assessment service. Big sigh of relief at first...then back to feeling like I was in limbo not knowing when I'd hear. I definitely find it worse when you're expecting to hear something and nothing comes though; I've been told I should hear this month about an appointment finally (I rang in January and they said I was near the top of the list) so I'm anxiously checking the post every day and so far nothing, it is rather driving me crazy.
My expectation was that there would be some sort of letter as like you said other referrals for things like minor surgery etc have had that in the past for me. My current plan is to give it until the postman arrives on Monday as then that will have been a month since the Drs say they sent it. A month seems like a good solid round period of time for me to start checking things are where they should be. I'm always wary of running off and nagging too quickly as I don't want to annoy people and put them in a "Right, F*** this guy" mood