Well, the good news is that I received a copy of my referral. The bad news is that it was only just sent out yesterday, despite the fact that the letter was written on the 16th of June. At least it got sent out, right? Like, I should just feel lucky that my doctor even wrote me a referral for a tonsillectomy, shouldn’t I? That was how I felt back in June when I had my appointment, but now that July is coming to an end I feel frustrated and discouraged by the NHS.

In the time since I had my appointment with the ear/nose/throat specialist I have gotten sick at least twice. At the rate this process is going I will have my tonsils out on Christmas Day! The original dates were around July 12th or around August but since the referral letter was not sent out until over a month after my appointment (a total of eight days since the first surgery window) I have a feeling the tonsillectomy will get pushed back even further. Could you imagine having to deal with this situation and working a full-time or part-time job? Although I don’t have to take time off of work, I do have to request time off from my interior design course for my recovery but I can’t very well do that if I have no idea when the surgery is going to happen.

Oh, and by the way, the referral was written three days after my appointment in June. I’m in awe at how it took over a month to send out a referral letter that was just sitting there. In all of my experiences with the NHS, I still want to believe in the system. The idea of a nationally funded public healthcare system is incredible and useful in so many ways, however the execution could use some serious help. I don’t doubt that the doctors and nurses and receptionists and countless others working to keep the NHS running are doing their best, however I do think that it is tremendously important that they be paid fairly. So many people rely on NHS services and it is a shame to see that such an essential program is being run into the ground due to poor funding.