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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To go to NHS appointment at private hospital when obese

37 replies

user1469053841 · 12/12/2016 23:57

About a month ago I went to an NHS GP about a gyny issue and he refereed me to a consultant. Won't say what it is to maintain anonymity but it isn't motivated by fertility and it isn't immediately urgent or life threatening.

Couple of weeks ago I was offered an appointment on next Monday (way sooner than I'd expected) at a private hospital but as an NHS patient. On the phone they asked me for my height and weight to see if I met criteria. I gave the weight I thought I was (thinking that they might think it was too much) and they offered me the appointment. I didn't ~lie - I just hadn't actually weighed myself for ages.

I weighed myself today for the first time in ages and I'm slightly more than what I said on the phone. the issue is - I may be wrong as they never said - but I'm assuming the benchmark is BMI 30, and the weight I said on phone gives me 29.5, and weight I am is more like 30.5.

What shall I do?? I might be kidding myself but I don't think I look obese - overweight but nor obese. Will they weigh me when I get there?? If so will they refuse to see me or worse charge me hundreds I can't afford for a consultant appointment?? I don't know what to do! Any help or prior experience with this kind of thing appreciated.

PS i am obviously not proud of being obese and I am horrified now I realise how bad the situation is and motivated to change so please no lecturing.

OP posts:

FizzBombBathTime · 13/12/2016 00:00

You made an educated guess as to your weight and you weren't far off, I wouldn't worry about it.

They won't charge you

What if you didn't own a pair of scales?! I don't, I would just be guessing if someone asked me my weight over the phone

DearSantaDefineGood · 13/12/2016 00:03

I can't speak for if they will do the treatment, but if they decided not to see you they wouldn't charge you.

If imagine they would only refuse treatment on the basis of your BMI if the treatments success rate is directly linked to BMI as it is with IVF for example (although obviously as you said yours isn't fertility related).

haveacupoftea · 13/12/2016 00:05

YANBU. At my height that rise in BMI would only be the difference of a few pounds anyway. Maybe cut out junk food til then, see if it reduces a bit?

Sweets101 · 13/12/2016 00:06

This is probably terrible advice but what I would do is keep the appointment and eat like a rabbit that enjoys chicken on the side till Monday and drink a heck of a lot of water.

Bobochic · 13/12/2016 00:17

Yes, live on porridge, apples and water for a few days. It's a great way to cleanse your colon :)

Manumission · 13/12/2016 00:24

How many lbs are we talking? Can you face a fruit fast for a few days? (Great for energy anyway.)

Crumbs1 · 13/12/2016 00:39

My area of work. They will see you for appointment. They may consider whether to offer treatment under general anaesthetic because they will have strict payment criteria from the CCG one of which will be BMI. Usually this is over 31 is referred back to NHS but it does vary from area to area. Reason is private hospitals don't have same medical support and emergency cover as NHS so only take very low risk patients.

HicDraconis · 13/12/2016 02:25

You'll be seen in the clinic for the appointment.

The issue I would think is whether you meet criteria for private healthcare as an NHS patient - and the cut off BMI varies from hospital to hospital. You'd be fine here, my cutoff for anaesthetising in private is a BMI of over 40 (and even then I'll take each case on its own merits).

Isetan · 13/12/2016 05:37

If someone asked me my weight I would have to give an educated guess of between 62kg and 68kg because I have no idea but I would have told them that I didn't know exactly. If your so worried, why don't you call them back and say you made an educated guess and now that you have weighed yourself, you wanted to give them an accurate measurement.

Deal with this now, to relieve your anxiety.

Hotbot · 13/12/2016 05:54

You need to ring them as your appt will be wasted , our hospital does not treat NHS puts with high Bmis

WizzardHat · 13/12/2016 06:10

I had a referral for a procedure done at a private hospital - they didn't weigh me. It wasn't under GA, just sedation. Are you going for a procedure or for a consultation? I think you'd be fine. They won't charge you though.

MistresssIggi · 13/12/2016 06:40

I had no idea private healthcare left the more difficult cases to the NHS.

Wolverbamptonwanderer · 13/12/2016 06:42

Liquid diet for a few days?

MaryBerrybeard · 13/12/2016 06:44

Go to the appointment.
Let this give you the motivation to start losing weight today. You could easily lose several pounds before Monday without starving yourself.
Best of luck.

Walkacrossthesand · 13/12/2016 07:03

The vast majority do in this country, mistresss, because private hospitals have very sketchy medical cover - no intensive care or even high dependency unit, to look after people who are proper poorly as opposed to healthy people having planned surgery. That's one of the reasons why the increasing use of the private sector for NHS work is a worry - trainees don't get the experience of 'routine' ops, and private hospital outcomes look so much better than NHS hospital ones, because they cherry pick the easiest work.

frumpet · 13/12/2016 07:04

The appointmet is to discuss treatment options . I am sure if your weight has implications to the success rate of the treatment they will discuss this then . If they believe you are 'high risk' you will be treated in a NHS hospital .

MistresssIggi · 13/12/2016 07:05

private hospital outcomes look so much better than NHS hospital ones, because they cherry pick the easiest work
I am a firm NHS supporter anyway but hadn't seen this danger inherent in increases in private healthcare.

NicknameUsed · 13/12/2016 07:12

"I had no idea private healthcare left the more difficult cases to the NHS."

Part of it would be down to economies of scale I would have thought. One of my friends has had several operations under private healthcare, but when one of them went wrong she ended up in an NHS hospital. She told me that the medical care she got there was better than in the private hospital.

She also said that in the private hospital the food was better and all the patients had en suite rooms, but because every patient was in their own room it was harder to get hold of a nurse. Also most of the doctors are NHS doctors moonlighting, which was why most of the operations are in the evening.

heron98 · 13/12/2016 07:18

Sorry, I don't get it - what difference does it make if you're obese?

I haven't weighed myself for about 10 years, I could only really guess at my weight. I think it's a bit unreasonable for them to expect you to know exactly.

WipsGlitter · 13/12/2016 07:25

You absolutely won't get charged!

It will be an assessment and if your weigh precludes you from treatment you will be referred back to the NHS system.

HaveNoSocks · 13/12/2016 07:28

You made what sounds like a reasonable guess at your weight. They can't expect you to know exactly how much you weigh off the top of your head (last time I was weighed I was 9 months pregnant - I have literally no idea what I weigh now). They just wanted some preliminary information in all likelihood for the doctor to read before the appointment (e.g. are you underweight, obese, morbidly obese etc).

LunaLoveg00d · 13/12/2016 07:46

Gosh there's a lot of misinformation about private healthcare. Private hospitals vary hugely in what they offer and what facilities they have. The bigger of the two private hospitals in Glasgow does have an intensive care unit and state of the art diagnostic equipment like a MRI. The smaller hospital doesn't have intensive care. Doctors in private hospitals aren't "moonlighting" which sounds shady and not quite legal - most work part time or do 3 x 12 hour shifts in the NHS and then a few hours a week privately. I recently had a major abdominal procedure privately at 2 in the afternoon, it's not all evening surgery. Many of the clinic appointments ARE in the evening though which suits an awful lot of working people.

Getting hold of a nurse was fine too, I just buzzed if I needed something and someone came. I had my own room, ensuite bathroom, free telly and the food was restaurant standard.

OP they won't refuse to see you at your initial appointment, or charge you for it. Depending on what you're having done they may suggest or require that you lose weight but may not. Go along and discuss it with them. I have certainly found in the private sector you have more time to talk things through with the medics and explore options.

228agreenend · 13/12/2016 07:48

You won't be charged. You are effectively seeing a nHS consultant in a NHS appointment, which is just being held in a Privete environment. Locally to me, a lot of private hospitals offer NHS hospital appointments. If it turns out the treatment isn't suitable at this time, you will just go back into the NHS system.

bigredfireengine · 13/12/2016 07:50

Private hospitals won't do high risk NHS work as they don't have the same intensive care and emergency facilities.

I have a unique (apparently) underlying medical condition. When I had an operation at a private hospital they insisted it was done at the one opposite the NHS hospital rather than the one about 4 miles away so that if needed they could get me straight into the main teaching hospital if needed (I only know this as it was an issue with the insurer as it was a more expensive hospital) . The consultant was the same one at the NHS and private.

Tarla · 13/12/2016 07:55

It's quite normal for weight to fluctuate by a few pounds over both the course of the day and the course of the month due to various factors. So you might weigh, for example, 10st exactly but you might vary between 9st 12lb and 10st 3lb depending on how big a meal you've eaten, the time of day (you're lighter first thing in the morning), where you are in your cycle a day so on. If your BMI is already borderline then any one of these fluctuations could temporarily put you over/under the 30 mark.

private hospital outcomes look so much better than NHS hospital ones, because they cherry pick the easiest work

When I worked in the NHS one of our consultants did a lot of private work with members of the local sports team. He fixed their injuries on a private basis then referred them back into his NHS clinic for their aftercare because the NHS was better equipped to deal with post-operative complications and rehabilitation.

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