Combining NHS and private treatment?

[LifeIsGhoulish]

Can this be done?

Dc has an ongoing chronic problem, for which she is seen by a specialist nurse. The nurse has to refer any change of treatment to the consultant, whose response is always a sort of 'you know best'. Consultant Paediatrician has seen dd once, 2.5y ago.

While the nurse has always been lovely and very supportive, there has been minimal improvement and I feel this has gone on too long. I want to use private health insurance to have dd seen by a specialist in her condition.

What would doing this mean for her NHS treatment?

[PinkSwimGoggles]

nothing.
unless the private consultant prescribes something that is not available on the nhs (many medicines that are not licensed for children for example).

you can ask for a referral to a different (nhs) consultant for a second opinion. takes time though.

[LifeIsGhoulish]

Thanks, Pink.

Waiting list for the specialist is 12w, according to their website. Thankfully dd is covered by PHI through work, but it's a fairly low level of cover, only really enough for diagnostics, not for treatment of a chronic condition, so we would likely be returning to NHS care at some point.

Would I be able to continue attending the nurse-led clinic?

[LifeIsGhoulish]

While being seen privately, I mean.

[caroldecker]

There are some odd rules about not mixing private and NHS care. You are not able, for example, to pay privately for drugs administered by the NHS. You need to talk to your nurse/hospital for their rules.

[MatildaTheCat]

If you have health insurance I would go for it. I've mixed the two and it has been quite awkward at times but that was within the same hospital. I had surgery/ scans etc and was supposed to be seen by the consultant witching X number of weeks but of course there were no appointments for months. So I did consultations privately and treatment on the NHS. It did cause admin problems so cannot fully recommend in that situation.

Yours sounds different and I'd go for it. It frees up NHS slots for others if you want a positive spin.