Right to choose

It might be worth contacting the place that you are on the waiting list for. Most of the RTC providers have some sort of waiting list now. My assessment was done through the NHS, after a 3 year wait I was given a timeframe. My appointment was sent out 4 months later for 4 weeks after that.
I contacted the centre every 6 months, they can tell you when you were officially put on the list and the waiting list date they are now seeing people from. So if  they say they are seeing people who have been on the list for say 4 months before you, it then gives you quite an exact timeframe. It is the not knowing which is the hardest part.

i didnt think about that i will definitely contact them to find out thank you!

Roy said:

they can tell you when you were officially put on the list and the waiting list date they are now seeing people from

Just to help manage your expectations, they might not be willing / able to tell you anything.

In my area, for example, the NHS team won't provide any information like that.

I suspect this is partially because newer / more recent referrals can be prioritised over older ones, based on those patients' needs. So the waiting list isn't necessarily fixed in the order of when referrals were received.

If the RTC pathway is quicker then definitely go that way, I just thought it might be worth an email, sometimes you can be nearly at the top of the list without realising it. The centre where I was assessed is an adult unit so I knew there wouldn’t be child referrals taking precedence. They were happy to keep me informed of the waiting times and the wait given was correct.

If I was to start the process again I would have gone down the RTC route, I felt at the time that due to my age I was lucky to be referred at all.

ohhhhh that makes sense

ohhhhh that makes sense