Private healthcare

[madhousee]

Hi, can anyone point me in the right direction of private health care? Is that health insurance?

I have been back and forth at my doctor and he has advised if I can, to look into going private?

[Milly90]

Hi OP

I know the private medical world very well...

If you have a condition/symptom you actively want to claim for now then you will not get insurance cover for that. Like any insurance it's for unknown things that may become apparent AFTER your cover starts

So if you have an issue and you want to go private for it now you will need to speak directly to a private consultant or hospital (such as a BMI hosp/ nuffield hosp/ spire etc get some ideas about costs)
Consultations usually start around £220 for your first one £180-200 for second
Ultrasound scans can be anything upto around £500
Blood tests can run into high costs depending on what and how many tests they do

Hope you feel better soon

[Fairylea]

Contact the private hospitals in your area and ring them and they’ll be able to tell you costs involved and how you can make an appointment. Many offer payment packages even if you don’t have insurance.

[madhousee]

Hi.

Thanks for getting back everyone.

I will phone around tomorrow and see what they say.

Thank use.

[JinglingHellsBells]

My advice is similar. It's worth having private insurance if you can afford it, as it makes a huge difference to waiting times, choice of consultants, and - being honest- better surroundings if you need admission.

Most policies have a 2-year rule, so they won't cover you for anything existing if it's occurred in the last 2 years.

They won't cover chronic conditions .

You can pay for private health as you need it. As PPs have said, a consultation can cost around £250 (depends on location and specialists) but blood tests can be anything from £20 to £600+.

Operations vary- think of anything from £6K- £20K for something major.

Many private hospitals have fees for operations on their websites. Most have consultant profiles and you can either contact their own PAs or ask the hospital. The way it works is that most fees are 2-tier- one for patients covered by insurance, slightly cheaper if you self-pay.

You can also sometimes mix and match- see the dr privately but if it's not urgent they can put you on their NHS list for treatment if they also work in the NHS (and not all do- some are only private.)

I guess the question is why can your GP not help? Is this too hard for them and why can't they refer you to an NHS consultant?

[Weenurse]

2 year rule is why I recommend that young people take it out while they are fit and healthy so are covered later when they need it. DH whines about the cost but likes being able to chose his Doctor, hospital and time of procedure. ( though I chose the Dr😎)

[madhousee]

This is extremely outing.

My GP has been helping, I have been back and forth every few weeks and we're getting nowhere.

I have had all the blood tests done and everything is normal except my b12. I have been getting a lot of other symptoms, vision issues, extreme itchy skin, skin rash, sore stomachs, fatigue. I have been passing what looks like white rice in my stools and passed a long, flat worm like thing. I have passed another but it looked slightly different.

We both thought it could be tapeworm, he prescribed medicine but it got declined for more testing.

He has referred me to infectious disease department but said it could take quite a while and suggested I look at private healthcare.

It's so frustrating as all the symptoms I have are getting worse.

[JinglingHellsBells]

I don't understand.

he prescribed treatment for a possible tape worm but you couldn't get the drug? Who declined it? The pharmacist? Why did they overrule the dr? Or was it something else?

If you lived in London or a big city, I assume you could use a walk-in facility for infectious / tropical diseases. In London there is just that- UCHL - University Hospital for Tropical Disease.

Have you been overseas where you could have picked up a tape worm?

Your GP really ought to pull more strings and try to get you a faster appt.

You will not be covered by insurance if you took it out today.

The options are to see a private dr who specialises in bowels, or infectious diseases. You might need a scan or colonoscopy and this would run into thousands.

A scan is around £600.

I think you ought to push your GP more and ask to be referred within 2 weeks- it's a bowel problem and may come under the urgent 2 week rule.

[madhousee]

Sorry.

The pharmacist declined it as there wasn't any bowel samples so not 100% ruled out. Doctor was happy to prescribe going with my other symptoms and what I mentioned about what was in my stool.

I believe it's hard to get in the UK, I brought a container this morning with another worm like thing and some other stuff that's in my stool. I have to hand in another sample as the last one hasn't been registered or sent for testing. I will drop that in tomorrow as I'm off.

I was in turkey, so not sure if I have picked anything up there.

To be honest, not 100% sure it is a tapeworm. A lot of the symptoms I'm facing are similar to tapeworm. I'm at my wits end now as it's affecting me. I feel like I'm going round in circles.

[madhousee]

Apologies, the pharmacist contacted my surgery as the medicine was coming from Germany and was hard to get. I believe she tried to call my GP but he was off on leave and she spoke with another GP who refused to sign it off as he wanted further testing.

Hopefully this referral comes in sooner than I was told and can hopefully start getting somewhere.

I'm at work, my messages are a bit rushed.