NHS Wait/Pay privately?

Health & Diet Health & Diet: Chat / Discussions
21

I have never used private medicine before, but following a short series of fits/faints, Marge insisted I have some initial private consultations: one with a neurologist and another with a cardiologist.

Together, they both advised MRI and CT scans (each for different reasons) but warned that waiting times in the NHS are very long - around six months. What would you have done?

Yes, we decided to go privately for both of these scans and an ultrasound scan of the heart activity. Following these, the cardiologist said that the evidence is there to be referred to the local cardiology hospital for the insertion of a loop recorder and possibly a pacemaker if necessary under the NHS.

Proven need clearly overcomes routine waiting time! I just wonder how people who canā€™t afford the expensive shortcuts get on.

22

I went private JBR because my surgery on NHS is years and I couldnā€™t put up with pain that long.

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23

You did right. Some people complain about others making use of private medicine, yet what do they spend their money on?
I understand that some people canā€™t afford private medicine, but some can but say that it is not the right thing to do because others cannot. At the same time they spend their money on other things that others cannot, like holidays abroad, etc.
Who is right and who is wrong?
I havenā€™t had a holiday abroad for years now through choice, so why not use that money to improve my life?

24

Wishing you well Suzie sorry to hear about your fall

I have cataracts in both eyes , no problem so far except a little misting. I will pay privately rather than let the NHS keep me waiting years . Optician says they are not ripe yet but Iā€™m not sure how bad they get before ripe . Its Ā£2000 per eye in a small private hospital in Somerset . Of course I would rather have it done free as is my right but WHEN . My savings can save my sight even if I have no savings left at least Iā€™ll be able to see and read and drive

25

I had a cataract in my left eye (right eye unaffected) a few years ago. Perhaps I was lucky, but the eye hospital said they were happy to remove it and, if I remember correctly, it wasnā€™t really that bad at the time. So I went ahead, lucky not to have to have it done privately.

On the other hand, at Ā£2000 per eye, it might be an attractive proposition to anyone unhappy with having to wear glasses simply to correct their vision even if they donā€™t yet have cataracts.

26

Another wasted day, yesterday, after waiting in for a call, from the Doctor, to ā€œreview my prescriptionā€.

A phone call was listed, on the prescription, for the 27th March, but, as usual, nothing happened.

I tried to get ahead of this, by calling at surgery opening time, but was given ā€œyou are number 18 in the queueā€ so I waited a couple of hours, tried again, and was, again, number 18 in the queue.

I walked over to the surgery, about a mile away, and was told that the desk was not open because one of the staff was ill & they couldnā€™t man the calls!

This despite the fact that about 9 Doctors were in there ā€œworkingā€ (on what?)

Since all of the UK Doctors went Private, by which I mean that they are in their own little businesses, rather than the NHS, the level of ā€œserviceā€ has gone down the pan, around here!

Could not one of those Doctors have picked up the phone?

This is my rant, for today, and Iā€™ll try again on Monday, or Tuesday, or Wednesday, or, or, or!

Please donā€™t reply to tell me how good your local surgery is - just send them over here!

:clock1230: :clock130: :clock230: :clock830:

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27

I phoned my GP yesterday and he was knocking at my door before Iā€™d even got through. Heā€™d stopped on the way over and got me a coffee from Costa and a little cake from the artisan bakery we have nearby. Couldnā€™t do enough for me and even wiped down the dining table after heā€™d finished performing open heart surgery on me. Lovely man.

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28

This very much reflects our practice, especially the ā€œ18th in the queueā€. One advantage in relation to that is that they give you the option of ā€œpress 1ā€ to save your position in fhe queue and they then call you back when youā€™re near the front.

I have, in the recent past, called to the practice and posted a letter in their letterbox. I know it sounds ridiculous, but it can be quicker than waiting to speak to a receptionist and I know it will be seen (and, presumably read) on that day.

I strongly feel that something needs to be done about GP practices. As I understand it, since this Covid thing, there has been a noticeable reduction in general practicioners perhaps because theyā€™ve become fed up with the extra work involved and have either gone to work elsewhere or retired. I have a suspicion that ultimately the government must take some responsibility for this.

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29

You had me going there, for a while!

:smiley: :smiley:

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30

Itā€™s all going round in circles, a bit, whereby Doctors set themselves up ā€œfortress fashionā€ and this makes the patients hold off, to help reduce the strain, and that leads to the Doctor thinking thereā€™s no great demand anyway, and round we go.

I did notice, today, that the surgery still had many flags outside offering Vaccinations to one and all!

(But no calls to existing patients , so far, this week.)

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31

I believe they get extra bonus payments for doing vaccinations!

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32

They get bonuses for everything these days! QOF Points for prescribing statins and diabetic medication brings in a lot if extra Ā£Ā£Ā£Ā£ for practices.

When my husband was told he was borderline for diabetes we couldnā€™t understand why the surgery was ringing HIM to get him to go in for tests etc then we discovered!

33

I disagree. In doing that they acted completely correctly.

34

It wasnā€™t just a request to come in, they were on the phone every day to the point of us joking if we didnā€™t get a phone call one day. :rofl:

35

Fair enough. If he really doesnā€™t want to see them thatā€™s up to him.
There is a minor drawback, though, that if he becomes more seriously diabetic and is unaware of it until it develops too far, there is a possibility that heā€™ll regret not taking up their offer sooner.
I know; Iā€™ve been there!

36

He did go JBR! They monitored him for a while then said he wasnā€™t ā€œborderlineā€ and he has been fine since. He said ā€œI will go back to normal now and have to wait weeks for an appointment.ā€ :rofl:

37

There, you see. Iā€™m sure he feels much better now!

38

Iā€™ve just been to see the diabetes nurse, a lovely lady, a Seikh woman.
I see her every six months and she is very thorough and takes a real interest in how Iā€™m doing. She even remembered that weā€™d been to India a couple of years ago and Iā€™d been sick whilst there. She also chatted with us (mainly with Marge of course!) for a long time, though I donā€™t think she had any other patients waiting outside.
When I asked her about one of my recent tests having shown an increase in something, she immediately arranged for the doctor who specialises in diabetes to telephone me on Monday (heā€™s away until then).
Although there are routine problems getting through to the surgery on the telephone, this lady really makes up for it!

39

Yes, there are a few good ones out there.

40

Postscript ā€¦ I am also pretty sure that if I was living in the US, a fair amount of the surgery that has been carried out on me, would not have been covered in any of the insurance policies available in the US.