AIBU For expecting more of a Private Hospital

[charliebear78]

Ok,So I went in for a NHS Procedure yesterday-I was given the option of three local Hospitals to go to,One of these was a Private Hospital-so I thought it would be "better" plus this particular Hospital could do the procedure sooner than the others,so great I thought, and chose that one.
I arrived on time and was quickly ushered through to my own en suite room and given a menu to chose what I wanted to eat afterwards-The Room was quite grotty with really old wooden furniture, The room was quite depressing and I was feeling nervous about the procedure(colonoscopy)
The curtains were drawn so I thought "lets open them and get some light in here,that will cheer me up a bit"
The window was all boarded up.
I then sat in that depressing windowless room for 3.5 hours until I was taken down to theatre!
The actual Colonoscopy took half an hour-afterwards I was given a cheese and ham toastie and a pot of tea-with a napkin!!!!
My Mum had the same thing done a month before at our local NHS Hospital and was in and out in the time I spent just waiting!!!!
I really cannot get over the wait time.Why did I need to go there just to wait for so long?
No one said sorry about the wait.
Just wanted to vent really.
I was already feeling nervous and worried and the time waiting on my own really got to me.
Thankfully all was ok.
Is this the norm for some Hospitals?!! I have NEVER had to wait so long before.
Do people pay for this? or is it because I am an NHS patient using their Hospital?

Actually op I think to have a point about the wait. When I had endoscopy and colonoscopy the wait in an NHS hospital was minimal but all I got after fasting was tea and a small pack of biscuits. No privacy either.
As a day surgery patient on the NHS I arrived at 7am after being bumped the previous week. Taken to ward at 8. Did various checks and was told to get in xa gown thinking I was 1st on the list. Than realized their mistake and sent to reception to wait. They didn't tell me where I wasn't the list but noticed the number 6 next to my name. Finally went down at 2pm although should have been 5pm as I was last on an all day list. Now that is waiting. After the op I had a whatever sandwich they had left and tea.
After an ERPC all I got was a cup of tea. They didn't even give me water. I could have asked of course but I was feeling fragile.
So op experience varies but apart from the wait and poor communication I think your experience was pretty good.

or is it because I am an NHS patient using their Hospital?

Most likely OP

If it's any consolation. I've sometimes been treated less than nice on occasion from an NHS hospital when they've discovered I don't work. (long term ill health ironically) I'm sure it's just me being paranoid and it has only been one or two.

Next time when you go in, if there is a next time, make sure you take your personal hairdresser and stylist with you. They'll treat you much better then

I know the waiting is hard but maybe there was a longer wait because they had more patients to see as NHS patients can choose?

The handful of times we've gone private we've always been treated impeccably. Write it off as a one-off OP and i hope you're feeling better soon.

^Thought I would be told to arrive nearer to the time of my actual procedure.
I understand that's not how it works,perhaps if told this....^

Nope. Sorry. Private hospitals still have emergencies like NHS ones do. There might have been a complication with the last patient.

Here's a few examples: My uncle went to A&E with a blinding headache that he could not shift for over 48hours. The doctor was going to give him some stronger painkillers and send him home. Another one decided to do a scan 'just to double check'. They found secondary tumours. He had lung cancer.

I was sat waiting to see a member of my neuro team in clinic, was first, so should have been in & out right? Only someone decided to have a cardiac arrest as they were walking through the clinic which set everybody back for the day. I was still waiting 3 and a half hours later and I still have no idea how I managed not to say anything to the man talking to the staff like shit 'because he'd been waiting half an hour and this was unacceptable' .

I've also had to wait when attending a private clinic in London for my son. I didnt expect to be seen asap and its a good job as we were waiting a fair while.

Basically. Any medical procedure you may be having or assessments. Always be prepared to wait. I take a new book with me every time.

You were probably put in the shittest room because you didn't pay for it.

Just like when someone saves up loads of money to fly business class on their holiday and someone got upgraded for free. A bit unfair!

3 hour wait doesn't seem long at all. My last op at an NHS hospital I was told to arrive at 8am for a 12noon surgery. I was eventually taken to theatre at 4.30pm! I missed the supper serving so was given an old sandwich when I returned to my non-en suite shared ward.

People like you are why the NHS get a bad name
If you aren't happy with the NHS .. pay for private. Simples
Ahhhrgh

If you aren't happy with the NHS .. pay for private. Simples

Try RTFT user. The OP was using private.

A bit unfair!

Why? The NHS clearly saw them a a good tendor to help with their backlog.

The op was using a private hospital; as an NHS patient. She wasn't paying for it.

Surely your own room is better than the crappy day rooms people have to hang around in all day sometimes on NHS hospitals? My dad had to wait over 10 hours once,it was awful. Somewhere to lie down would've been great!

She wasn't paying for it.

No. But the NHS is. Their patients shouldn't be treated less so just because they're an NHS patient. The NHS still pays big bucks for the services the private hospital provides.

I know the NHS was paying . I just didn't understand your assertion that as op was using a private hospital, it made her a private patient. It doesn't.

Mother by 'here' do you mean outside the UK ? It's just 2 family members and 3 friends have had recent colonoscopies and all have opted for sedation as they were given the choice.

Just the nature of medicine, some days everything goes fine and there is no wait. Other days everything goes wrong and there is a long wait. Even routine procedures can throw up curve balls and I wouldn't expect it to be any different in a private setting to an NHS one. I have a family of nurses and there definitely isn't an NHS vs private attitude (it is in their interest to encourage people to take out medical insurance so why would they purposefully cause delays etc?)

You were treated, they fed you and gave you something to drink... I really wouldn't expect anything else really and to be honest I wouldn't expect that if I wasn't being admitted.

I just didn't understand your assertion that as op was using a private hospital, it made her a private patient.

I didnt say it did.

Not necessarily Mother some of the tendors for outsourcing to private hospitals or treatment centres are eyewateringly ridiculous.

Blimey,how awful. The people I knew were just given the choice- big teaching hospital on London also one in the Midlands.

I had sedation with my colonoscopy but not enough. Had to ask for more as I was in agony. Didn't feel woozy at all.

last year I had a friend who was desperately ill and was in and out of private hospitals for a long time, they were all central London hospitals in the Marylebone area ie Harley/Wimpole St territory, (they have amazing private insurance), and I visited her in most of them. I was really surprised at how completely different they all were, in standards of decor, staff attitude etc. even though some of them were under the same management. I can't speak for the medical care, only what I observed. In one the staff didn't even know if the chicken they served was halal, which considering their client base strikes me as poor staff training at the very least, this one was also quite shabby, torn wallpaper etc. The best by far was the London Clinic, huge spotless room, fabulous staff who coaxed her to eat with special off menu delicacies. The only drawback was the noise and not very nice outlook, for that the Wellington won hands down.

My conclusion is that private hospitals are like private schools, some are worth the money both in facilities and professionalism and others aren't.

motherofsausages are you serious? Colonoscopies performed by nursing staff! I have had a number, been given plenty of sedation for them all thank you, as have friends and family and none were performed by nurses. Are you sure you are not muddling it up with an other procedure?

There are some misconceptions about private healthcare here and the OP has been told wrong by some people. I'll give an example, you see a private surgeon and book for a carpal tunnel release surgery. You are asked to come at 12; pre-admission tests are done and surgeon does consent form. Just because you've paid does not mean you won't wait. It doesn't matter who is paying, it could be you or the NHS or your insurance or the Queen. The surgeon will operate based on priority, staff and preference. He may choose to do the easy ones at the end and start off with the thumb fusion as it takes longer.

This is the same with the clinics like the OP attended. There will be people on the surgeon's list who are more complex and more needy. There will be be known cancer patients and they may be prioritised. There will be people who looked easy but then deteriorate and need more time or more medication. It happens whether it's private or NHS.

Can only assume the nurse who did the hysteroscopy didn't know what she was doing. A nurse? FFS!
I had a consultant gynae do this (privately.) I had no sedation- nothing. It was fine. I didn't feel a thing despite my cervix being closed.
No way would I have allowed a nurse! How can she be qualified to read the results?