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NEWS: Labour to ration NHS referrals Labour’s plans to ration NHS referrals are deeply concerning and will affect us all. Instead of being referred directly to a specialist when your GP thinks it’s needed, now your doctor will have to email a specialist and you have to wait for them to email back their view. Once your GP gets the email back, they either need to call you in for another appointment, or provide that specialist's assessment to you by letter. Then you will need to wait and see whether that advice (given without seeing you in person) works for a period of time, before then going back to your GP again, and asking again to be referred to a specialist if you are still suffering with the health issue. The result? Longer waiting times for specialist care, while specialists spend more time writing emails than actually seeing patients and using their expertise. On paper, waiting lists will therefore look significantly shorter, but only because fewer people ever make it onto them. You are not on a waiting list while the GP is waiting for the specialist to send their advice (without seeing you). You are only on a waiting list when, and if, you then request later to be seen by the Specialist, once you've gone through all of the process above. ⁠So all of this means the Government can announce they've cut waiting lists massively, but what is actually means is longer waiting times for specialist care for all of us as patients, and specialists spend their time writing emails not seeing patients.