Waiting time for a gastroscopy (FOI)

Request

Please can you confirm the average length patients have to wait between being referred and having their first appointment for a gastroscopy?

Please can you confirm this information for both public and private patients?

Response

Patients requiring a gastroscopy are most likely to be referred to the outpatient specialty of Gastroenterology. The average wait from referral to first appointment in Gastroenterology in 2019 was 13 weeks for public patients. No private patients were recorded in 2019 in this specialty.

Once they have been seen, patients will be added to the waiting list for a gastroscopy. The average wait for a private patient was three weeks and a public patient was seven weeks.