Hospital waiting lists are slowly decreasing in official statistics. Some of this may be due to cleaning up lists by removing duplicates and people who no longer need to be seen. In some areas, waiting times remain very long, for example at the "first fit" clinic in neurology. Appointments should be offered within two weeks of referral, but waits were as high as nine months. Many patients accept a long wait as the norm. This was not the case 15 years ago. Successive governments have convinced people that the slow pace of care in the NHS is to be expected. Some patients do not consider long waiting times acceptable and collect funds.