I mentioned to you that my oncology referral sort of didn't get done following my surgery, I'm assuming due to confusion over if I was seeing one privately.
I only needed to see a medical oncologist and first saw them through the hospital. Public hospital appointments are excruciatingly frustrating. You can't have any input into the day or time and they say to allow 4 hours for a 20 minute appointment. Thankfully they did my next 2 appointments via telehealth!
On the last call, I asked if I could see her through her private practise which, as I'm not a very complicated case, she said yes to.
It's still a bit of travel but so much better than the hospital system. I can get an appointment late in the day so I don't have to miss much work (no sick leave left now, so the appointment fee is much cheaper than a lost day of wages).
So if your surgeon does suggest you see an oncologist, I can recommend seeing one privately if you want to minimise the impact on work etc.