NHS Dermatology Waiting Times: What to Do While You Wait

If you've been referred to dermatology for eczema and you're still waiting, you're not imagining how long it's taking. Long waits for non-urgent dermatology referrals are a widely reported pressure across the NHS, and eczema referrals often sit behind more urgent priorities like suspected skin cancer.

Ayr's peer support sessions have consistently reported real waits in the range of three to seven months from referral to appointment, sometimes with an additional wait layered on top if the eventual treatment plan (such as UV therapy) has its own separate waiting list.

What to do while you're waiting

Keep your GP in the loop, not just your specialist referral. Your GP can still adjust treatment, prescribe stronger topical steroids where appropriate, or escalate the referral if your condition is worsening - waiting for the specialist appointment doesn't mean nothing can change in the meantime.

Track flares and triggers now, not just before your appointment. A simple record of when flares happen, what seems to precede them, and what's been tried already makes the eventual specialist appointment far more useful - you'll walk in with real data instead of trying to recall months of history on the spot.

Ask explicitly if you're getting worse. If your eczema is significantly worsening while you wait, say so directly to your GP - referrals can sometimes be reprioritised, and it's worth asking rather than assuming the original wait time is fixed.

Be cautious with unsupervised self-treatment, including at-home UV devices bought online. Some ayr members reported spending several hundred pounds on at-home UV equipment to avoid a hospital wait, with mixed and sometimes worse results (including sunburn-like reactions) compared with supervised UV therapy - which is dosed and monitored for a reason. If it's specifically a patch or allergy test you're waiting on, see "patch testing and allergy testing for eczema" - https://ayreczema.co.uk/#/articles/patch-testing-and-allergy-testing-for-eczema-what-the-results-actually-mean - for what the results will actually tell you once they come through.

Why the wait is often this long

Dermatology waiting lists are under real pressure nationally, and a meaningful part of that capacity is reasonably prioritised toward suspected skin cancer referrals, which need to be seen urgently. Eczema, while it can be severely disruptive to quality of life, is rarely treated as urgent in the same triage sense - which is a genuine tension between how much a condition affects someone's daily life and how the NHS has to prioritise scarce specialist capacity.

Some of that pressure is a straightforward capacity problem: the British Association of Dermatologists' 2024 workforce report puts the entire UK dermatology consultant workforce at around 891 whole-time-equivalent posts actually working in the NHS (against roughly 1,340 dermatologists registered with the GMC in the specialty overall). That's every dermatology consultant covering every skin condition nationally, not an eczema-specific figure - there's no separately published count of "eczema specialists," since it isn't tracked as its own subspecialty - but it gives a sense of how few people are covering an enormous range of skin disease across the whole country.

"I spent three months just getting past my GP before the referral even went in, then another seven months waiting for the appointment. Nobody explains that the 18-week target most people have heard of doesn't always match what actually happens."
What's worth asking about, London-specific
If you're in London, ask your GP whether there's a choice of provider for your referral - the NHS e-Referral system often allows you to pick between multiple hospital trusts, and wait times can vary meaningfully between them for the same specialty. It's a five-minute conversation that can occasionally save months.
While you wait, primary care treatment (emollients and appropriately used topical steroids) remains the right first-line approach for most adult eczema - a wait for a specialist appointment isn't a wait to start managing the condition at all. If steroid-hesitancy is part of what's holding you back from primary care treatment in the meantime, see "the truth about steroid phobia" - https://ayreczema.co.uk/#/articles/steroid-phobia-our-peer-groups-real-views. And if the eventual referral is for a biologic like Dupilumab, "starting Dupilumab or biologics for eczema" - https://ayreczema.co.uk/#/articles/starting-dupilumab-or-biologics-for-eczema-what-people-actually-experience - covers what that pathway and the wait for it actually involve.

This article reflects the shared, anonymised experience of members of the ayr Eczema Circle peer support group, alongside general NHS information - it's not personalised medical advice. If your eczema is worsening while you wait for a referral, contact your GP rather than waiting it out.

References

NHS, "Atopic eczema," 2024 - https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/atopic-eczema/
2. NHS, "Choose which hospital or clinic you're referred to" - https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/hospitals/choosing-a-hospital/
3. British Association of Dermatologists, "BAD Workforce Strategy Report," September 2024 - https://cdn.bad.org.uk/uploads/2024/09/10155752/BAD-Workforce-Strategy-Report-Sept-2024.pdf

NHS dermatology waiting times: what to do while you wait

What to do while you're waiting

Why the wait is often this long

What's worth asking about, London-specific

References

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