"My experience with NHS Highland"

Currently undergoing investigations for a skin complaint and other issues related to coeliac disease which has caused me distress for years, 12 years approximately. 

Misdiagnosed by GPs for 6 years was the start of a living nightmare. After being finally diagnosed I then spent another 2 years battling, and when I say battle I mean battle, with various GP's about a range of issues that only started to get investigated when I left the practice, I had to move to another local practice who fortunately got the wheels in motion. 

After being referred to dermatology and gastroenterology due to having horrendous breakouts and stomach issues, I was faced with an 18 month to 2 year wait to see a consultant: which, after COVID, was not an surprise. It is now coming up to the 2 year mark that I have been under the care of the consultants and the results of this have been poor to say the least. This is in part because the consultants are not working together but are siloed in their specialities, I feel my issue isn't confined to one discipline and if the consultants were to work together they would have more luck in finding a solution. 

Not to be unfair to the consultants, they are always pleasant and are working under tough conditions, but nevertheless this doesn't help the situation I find myself in. Any referral for further testing/to see other departments takes an eternity but after 2 years I would have assumed that there would be a push on to get this resolved. What I'm experiencing is the complete opposite, I think this is now slipping into the too difficult category and a plan will be made soon to discharge me because there's nothing else they can do.

If the consultants in Inverness cannot find the solution, I should be put to a more specialist care centre who are used to dealing complex cases like mine. Not fobbed off in the hope that I will go away. 

If I lived more centrally, I would have gone private by now but with a 6 hour drive to the central belt, this option is not very viable as I assume that I will need multiple appointments which will result in an astronomical cost and a lot of time off my work. 

Long story short, when people say the NHS is broken, this story is the epitome of this. 

On a final note, I believe the complaints process is set up to take an age and to throw as many blockers in the way, in the hope you will give up before coming to a resolution. If you do manage to make it, like me, the most you will get is an insincere apology. Unfortunately apologies only go so far and a resolution or plan to manage my current ailments is the outcome I am seeking.