GP has told me I need to go private to have cataracts surgery

[user1474095534]

It seems like they will only do surgery if it gets so bad you are loosing your eye sight, by this time it's too late! It's surgery that isn't too expensive and has a great success rate so it should be readily available.

I did work for over 30 years, always paid my stamp in return for cradle to grave health care, but I don't think the government are sticking to their side of the contract.

[Believeitornot]

Vote Tory and this is what you get.

They have billions to spend on nuclear power plants but let the NHS wither and die....

[itmustbemyage]

Both my parents have had cataract surgery my dad had his about 20 years ago and even then he had to wait until it was the right time for them to be done. So having to wait is nothing new, or necessarily due to worsening financial pressures in the NHS.
My mum has had both of her eyes done in the last couple of years, both times she had to wait, the first eye surgery was fairly trouble free, although there is a lengthy post operation care regime required. But because she wore high prescription glasses, even before she developed cataracts, she suffered terribly with badly miss-matched prescriptions in her two eyes, she required interim glasses and suffered headaches and even had a bad fall. After the second eye was operated on she suffered from post operative problems which can happen as a result of any surgery. Even though cataract surgery may sound uncomplicated and something that should be rushed into a soon as possible it can be far from that. My mum says that having been through it herself she would recommend it only as and when you have no choice. Also a friend of mine did decide to go privately and she also suffered some post operative problems. Not saying that everyone has problems, I know the vast majority will be fine, but it is a surgery just like anyother and all the pro's and con's need to be weighed up by the doctors / surgeons who see these type of patients every day .In our area a lot of the assessments and all of the follow up care, except for surgery itself, is contracted out to Opthalmic Opticians working on the High Street so it may be woth having a chat with an optician as they can prescribe glasses, unless you wear them already of course, which will help your eyesight while you wait for surgery.

[expatinscotland]

'Claig is that you?'

Sounds it! The cutting and pasting, the 'paid my stamp'. Loads of folks who 'I worked for 35 years!' and then they lived for 35+ years economically inactive, developing more and more health problems and expecting the moon on a stick because 'I paid taxes!' No shit, everyone does.

[RB68]

If you want to get a handle on the condition and what and when you should be referred or surgery take place try the RNIB helpline for more info - Cateracts are contentious in that they are not life threatening but can have a big impact on the lifestyle which is what most people are concerned about. Anyway there is plenty of advice from RNIB around this issue and they will also advocate for certain patients if they think it will benefit a larger group of people, ie make a point with certain cases

[maggiethemagpie]

It's worse than that, I WAS in danger of losing my sight and probably would have got an operation eventually, but wasn't prepared to spend six months waiting to go blind before I got to the top of the list, so I had to fork out 8k of my own money to save my sight. This is the NHS. You'd think they'd prioritise sight saving surgery or anything that would lead to permanent disability, but they don't.

[Alconleigh]

This is what the people voted for. Not you necessarily, or anyone else on this thread, and certainly not me, but it is what enough people wanted (in England at least). A majority Tory government which is ideologically opposed to the NHS and state support of its citizens (state support of banks and billionaires is dandy though of course). Austerity and a vastly reduced state. It was right there in the manifesto.

Course now it's happening, everyone's appalled. Almost like they didn't mean anything which affected them.....just those Others.

So no, you can't have it yet. So pay up. Odd priorities if your health is less deserving of your cash than your "cars and holidays".

[OddBoots]

Yes, the NHS is underfunded so can't afford what it once used to. I will support any campaign you wish to start to attempt to get better funding for it.

[collarsandcuffs]

Unfortunately the person who does the private op is likely the same person who does the NHS op. My mum needs this surgery but knows the surgeon who will do it and it is the same one who would do it both in the private and NHS operation.

[collarsandcuffs]

And this is not due to austerity....my mum has been waiting well over 10 years for this op. Before the purse strings were tightened.

[expatinscotland]

'I can afford to pay, as my GP probably knows with my car and holidays, but if I did pay it would hurt the people that cant afford it as it would come to be seen as something that people should pay for.'



Then pay it.

How would your GP know about your car and holidays?

[pointythings]

I had my initial assessment within 10 weeks. The op was delayed by a month, because the assessment detected that I had life-threateningly high blood pressure. So I have the NHS to thank for saving me from the silent killer as well. Once the BP was down on medication, I had the op. I've now lost weight, taken up running and am fitter than I have been for about 15 years. Stop slating the NHS, start voting for politicians who don't want to destroy it, appreciate all the good things it does.

[JellyBelli]

YANBU. The 'entitled' comments are pathetic.

[PacificDogwod]

I don't see why I should be told to pay, I expect cradle to grave health cover and it is obvious that the NHS is sub par in this respect.

Yes.
More than 60 years ago when there was no cataract surgery. Or indeed effective treatments for many cancers. Or angioplasty before people had heart attacks that either disabled them or killed them.

There is a finite pot of money.
And as it happens your level of cataract does not meet whatever criteria have been decided by your health board.
So, either pay privately (for an opinion: an ethically and not financially minded ophthalmological surgeon will still advise you against it if the risk outweighs the potential benefits) or make your peace with your limited eyesight until such time that you DO meet the local criteria.

I am not defending that that is how it is.
But that IS how it is.

Would you like to advise which treatment should no longer be funded to fund more cataract surgery for more people earlier?
We could stop... hmm, let me see: free contraception? Transurethral prostate resections for benign prostate disease in older men? My DSs mastoidectomy for a benign tumour inside his ear? Give less chemotherapy? Get rid of aftercare? Have less community nursing teams? Less dementia care for our increasingly ageing population?? Who of course also have more cataracts....

Honestly, I am sorry you are up against this.
But you do need to try and look just slightly beyond your own annoyance and how your cataract is affecting you.
There is a bigger picture out there.

[user1474095534]

thanks ITCouldBeWorse, i didn't think i was entitled just for wanting eyesight. Some people out there really hate pensioners. I've paid my stamp for 30 years and just want to not develop a disability. 8'000.00 pounds is a lot, would mean no holidays this year and other cut backs.

[LIZS]

Have you actually checked the cost, I doubt it would be 8k.

[ilod27]

In my work patients are referred for cataract surgery by their optician, not their GP, but it might be different in other trusts.

[LIZS]

c2k at our local Nuffield for example. A consultation is less than £150 which would help assess the urgency.

[user1474095534]

I'm not in work, thats another reason why I think I'm not seen as a priority.

I've heard nuffield advertising on classical fm, I will probably need someone like them once I admit the NHS has failed me. I think it is 3-4k per eye for a good hospital to do it.

[Namechangedforthis4]

Unfortunately, I've experienced something similar, now my Dr knows I have private healthcare, every time I need something they refuse to refer me, then we go through the same dance of me saying I have private healthcare, them changing their mind and saying a referral would actually be a good idea, me calling BUPA again. have moved GPs twice - its been the same everywhere.

Go to see a private Dr if you cant get them to do this on NHS and the cataracts are "ripe" and you can afford it (this isn't a new thing - my grandmother paid to have hers done privately 25 years ago due to the waiting list - she could hardly see). However my mum has just had hers done on the NHS with only about a 6 week wait. The NHS is a total lottery these days, depends on your GP, postcode, tenacity and pure luck.

[mollie123]

you have only worked for 30 years and expect priority treatment.
Many of us have worked 40 years or more and are in the same boat.
The priority for the NHS should be to treat first those in pain, suffering from life-threatening conditions and serious treatable illnesses.
Your GP does not place you in any of those categories.

[TotallyOuting]

I've paid my stamp for 30 years and just want to not develop a disability. 8'000.00 pounds is a lot, would mean no holidays this year and other cut backs.

So what happens in 5-10 years when you need something else? Have you wasted your allotted healthcare money on something that the NHS decided didn't yet make sense in a cost vs. benefit analysis? Or are you now entitled to unlimited funds, over other people, because you've 'paid your stamp'?

[user1474095534]

Thanks Namechangedforthis4 glad I am not alone on this. It does seem to be a total lottery with this so called national health service.

No I don't expect priority, I would just like my OP before the damage makes me go blind and is irreversible. Your assuming the NHS is perfect and every decision they make is sound.

[expatinscotland]

' I've paid my stamp for 30 years and just want to not develop a disability. 8'000.00 pounds is a lot, would mean no holidays this year and other cut backs.'

I'm keenin' into my shawl

Still wondering how your GP knows all about your car and holidays.

[carrielou2007]

The NHS does prioritise sight saving surgery, I was in hospital the next day for detachment surgery. Sadly after 7 ops the sight couldn't be saved. Being very short sighted in the other eye was difficult but manageable until started losing sight in the eye too (something different).

I can remember attending a follow up and the clinic was full of very angry people with cancelled appointments and cancelled surgeries that day. The reason? The consultant had been knocked off his bike on the way to work that morning and was at the hospital further up the hill with life threatening injuries. Luckily he recovered well and have seen him lots of times since then.

One of my ops has been cataract on my 'good' eye as my only working eye everyday tasks were so difficult, unable to drive, affecting work etc. As it is non-life threatening I had to wait, waiting list I think was 19 weeks or so, I was the youngest there on the day by about 35 years!