To ask if you've ever successfully challenged a GP refusal to prescribe under a shared care agreement

[OptimismvsRealism]

Debilitating illness - NHS consultant waiting list 5 years - used up significant savings and went to a private doctor who set up a plan - GP says no it's got to come from the NHS and no they won't take your diagnosis and adopt it you go back to day 1 on a 5 year waiting list. The same private consultant btw works on the NHS team that would make the diagnosis.

Cost of the medication to NHS is actually not that much but cost to an ordinary individual on private prescription isn't within realms of possibility.

Is there any alternative?

Oh and the aibu, aibu to despair that the NHS seems to actively want people to suffer?

I'm not sure anyone has claimed that it is.

I think it is really fucking annoying when people second guess private diagnoses. Of any kind. Is it better that everyone is denied healthcare until the benevolent Lord NHS finally stops to bestow his erratic favour?

Exactly. I also pay privately for my blood tests too, as I cannot get 1 that I need, on the nhs. My GP advised me that going privately if I can, would then free up space for someone on the nhs, then we get penalised anyway 🙄

And others die because they can't afford their insulin.

I don't disagree that the NHS has problems, @OptimismvsRealism - I trained back in the 80s and have seen how successive governments have pared back funding and resources to the bone and beyond - but I cannot agree that the US system is better. It is only better IF you have the money.

Has any mners been to a private provider with symptoms and told they didn't have ADHD?

Curious!

This confuses me.
I recently, opted to go private as the NHS was taking too long to diagnose my heart issue.
They prescribed some medication, which i bought using a private prescription.
However, they sent a letter to my GP, and then they added the medication to my repeat prescription list... So now its NHS.
However, It's actually cheaper for me to buy them privately anyway.

Now I need an MRI. My Doctor said he could transfer me to his care under the NHS, however the waiting list is 6+ months. Or I can have an MRI the same week if I'm happy to pay 1500. Which is what I opted to do.... even so, its clear that I can transition from Private to NHS if I wish to...

I don't understand why your issue is happening...

Not me personally, but two friends have.

It is a problem because the drug the specialist has recommended falls outside of GP's usual prescribing. This can happen due to funding or complexity. In some cases the ICB do not fund particular drugs to be prescribed via the GP and they are hospital only. In others, the drug itself is specialist and requires complex monitoring and follow up which falls outside of the remit of the GP. In the latter, there are often Shared Care Agreements set up with a NHS provider and GP which outline the responsibilities of the specialist (usually initiating medication, establishing efficacy and obtaining a stable dose then regular follow ups at fixed intervals) and the responsibilities of the GP (prescribing the medication once dose established and ongoing bloods/necessary monitoring). When a patient sees a private provider, the GP will not always take on prescribing if the shared care cannot be met or if they believe the medication cannot be maintained safely for any reason. When a prescription is issued, the prescriber holds full responsibility no matter who made the recommendation. It is their registration at risk should anything go wrong

In your case, the private provider will have recommended something which is commonly prescribed by the GP so they have no qualms prescribing under the recommendation.

Some medications and treatments offered in the private sector are not approved by NICE or could be out of licence. Sometimes it can be due to cost.

This medication is approved by NICE for the purpose I need it. I’ve been told I can’t have it due to cost. I wasn’t making assumptions.

I never said you were!! If available on the NHs then can’t your consultant transfer you to his NHs patient list.

That is awful, @StormingNorman - I am furious on your behalf.

There are lots of medications people can’t have on the NHS because of cost.
In fact if I remember correctly (?) one of the suggested “work to rule” terms for gps is the prescribe according to patients interests without taking account of cost in the way they are usually expected to (or something like that?)

I don't think I can take you seriously with your talk of topping yourself. Your descriptions are hyperbolic.

The NHS can't stretch to everything like this. If it comes between drugs necessary to provide someone with severe schizophrenia drugs to enable them not to be constantly terrified by hallucinations or your ADHD medications, there's no contest. It's about triage.

I've been through private and semi private systems in Iceland, Geneva and the US. Hands down the UK was the best.

The NHS is there at the times when it is truly needed. My dad in May when he had a heart attack and needed a triple bypass. My brother in January when he passed away from an extremely aggressive cancer. Watching him die, and the grace, compassion and love shown by everyone in the NHS to him, his friends and family during every minute of his illness - I've seen the absolute best, and I'll always be grateful.

I'm not saying it doesn't make mistakes. I've experienced a few myself, when staff were under pressure and under resourced. But no one is denying you for shits and giggles.

I think this has changed in recent years. The NHS used to be there when you needed them, but experiences of friends and family in the past year suggest that isn’t the case any more.

Also, I do know people who are dead because of the consequences of untreated ADHD. Why do you believe it’s less serious than other conditions?

You only have to look at the enhurtu denial. They're not there for you if the drugs are expensive and they deem you not worth it.

Well your family got lucky then as there are just as many people who’ve been badly let down by the NHS . I was a nurse in the NHS for 30+ years and saw all the changes , many of them not for the better . In 2016 when I became acutely unwell they were quite happy to let me die , which I would have had it not been for private care and they also failed my mother miserably in 2019 leading to her death . The care , in 2 different hospital trusts in the SE , experienced by myself and my mother was woeful .