Tausende Patienten in England sind gefährdet, da Überweisungen von Hausärzten im „Schwarzen Loch“ des NHS verschwinden
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/dec/07/referrals-black-hole-means-patients-in-england-miss-out-on-healthcare-finds-watchdog
Von PurchaseDry9350
10 Kommentare
„One in seven people in England who need hospital care are not receiving it because the referral by their GP gets lost, rejected or delayed, the NHS’s own patient watchdog has found.
Three-quarters (75%) of these patients trapped in this “referrals black hole” suffer harm to their physical or mental health as a result of not being added to the waiting list for tests or treatment.“
Not good enough.
On several occasions I’ve discovered that a GP referral was never made, which is unacceptable in any profession. Yet, the perceived status of holding a title seems to excuse it. There should be no excuse for this, nor the general delays that plague the NHS system.
I also don’t like the term ‚black hole‘ as it implies escapism from responsibility. It’s not a black hole that’s the problem it’s a system broken from top to bottom
It really does need a massive overhaul. There needs to be an online portal so people can track their referrals more easily.
A lot of it seems to be the trust system resulting in different trusts having entirely different systems and not communicating properly as a result.
In my case the NHS ‘black hole’ was a referral sent to a defunct email address. Communication desperately needs an overhaul in the NHS. It’s so much easier now I can view test results online. There needs to be something similar for tracking referrals.
Seems to be going well, wouldn’t it be a good idea to employ the junior Doctors that we’ve spent hundreds of thousands of pounds training?
Just a thought. The GP Surgeries wouldn’t be put in the position they are now if there was more resource.
unpopular opinion , in cases of long waits, then there should be the option of the state giving a health voucher for the people to go private with no extra cost
Unfortunately, Wes Streeting – the Health Secretary – all but completely gutting the ICBs (Integrated Care Boards – the local NHS commissioning and principal quality assurance bodies) is hardly likely to improve the situation….
The current system is terrible, I have been waiting for almost a year on one referral and there is no way of knowing when I will be seen. Ideally you should just be able to login to the NHS website and see all your referrals with estimates/details.
My fiance had a referral for the same service and I think it took almost two years for her to get an appointment.
I noticed my referral was falling into this „black hole“ after months of hearing nothing back, so I sent some emails asking what’s going on with it.
A day later I got notified by phone that the referral was rejected. Fantastic. Makes it feel like they just didn’t want to deal with me.
Any chance of people remembering this next time the „OMG unprecedented numbers are claiming sick and disability benefits“ headlines pop up and maybe consider whether it really is because everyone is a workshy scrounger?
Whatever we do can we not pay 000’s for Consultants