Private prostate surgery

[Alesto]

My dad has been found to have extensive cancer in his prostate. The consultant says they will remove the whole thing and then the prognosis is really positive. The NHS wait for surgery is about 5 weeks.
We would like to get this done privately. I have already lost one friend too soon due to NHS delays, just want to give Dad the best chance. It seems he would also stay in for a few days, rather than go home the day after. That would surely be better for him and Mum.
Question is, how would we decide where to go? Plenty of options, but how do we work out who to trust? Any advice would be so appreciated at this time.

Why not ask his surgeon? He would also know whether there’s anything to be gained by getting it done before the 5 weeks he’s suggested. There are a few prostatectomy operations and none are minor procedures… how good an idea the private option is will depend on your dad’s general health/whether there’s anything to optimise pre-op/ what the support services are like in the local golden nuggets (HDU etc) (or even whether there is a private option if he’s talking about using a robot).

Well, he’s at home waiting now. I have some misgivings about how long it would take for him to actually get to speak to the surgeon, given the rescheduling of appointments that has already happened, but we could try.

Does the same surgeon work privately locally?

When we decided to go private we have a search on line and read about possible surgeons, their expertise/experience and some had reviews. If you can afford it definitely go private.

Hi, my husband had this surgery in November. We were lucky to have private health insurance but we did have to pay 40% of the cost as the surgeon recommended to him was based in London and our policy did not cover London hospitals at that time. I think the Total cost was approx £20K. He was in hospital for 2 nights and had the "robotic" surgery. He recovered fully. There is a Prostate Cancer charity that would be a good place to start or my husband would be happy to speak to your Dad. His Dr was Prof. Eden. You might want to also listen to the Kenny Logan (Gabby Logan's husband) who was a guest in her podcast discussing his experience, this was what gave my husband the push to get surgery. Let me know if you need more info. x

Thank you so much all of you, and Wedlock, that’s very kind. I need to speak to Mum and Dad, I’m gathering info at the this stage, to prepare.

PCa is a relatively slow-moving cancer, so 5 weeks is probably not a problem. The Gleason score from biopsy should indicate the level of risk (men are often better just living with low-risk disease), along with the mpMRI scan images and PSA level.

External beam radiation, and brachytherapy are effective alternatives to prostatectomy. Focal therapy (HIFU, Nanoknife, cryotherapy) may not be an option if the disease is extensive, ie multifocal. Has your dad been fully briefed on the 'side-effects' of surgery?