Potential skin cancer, NHS and private waiting times

[Comfortable8520]

This is more of a rant than anything else.

My GP referred me yesterday to dermatology on the cancer pathway. I was very anxious, so today I paid £200 to see a private consultant. She thinks I need a biopsy. If I do it with that clinic, it will be another £650, but I should get results within a few days.

I also have private health insurance (have been paying for it for several years). If I go through them, it should be covered, but the wait is around 7 to 8 weeks in total for the consultation, biopsy appointment and results. I was told by them that because the NHS is so busy, more people use private now hence the longer waiting times...

With the NHS, I do not even know how long it will take.

How did we get here? I have lived in this country for more than 20 years. I have spent thousands on education, visas and citizenship. I have worked continuously and paid a huge amount in tax. And now I am sitting here wondering whether it was all really worth it. What happens when I am 50, 60 or 70 and my health gets worse? How did we let politicians run the healthcare system into this state?

If I were you. …stay on the nhs pathway but privately go to see a consultant who works locally in your nhs. Get your biopsy privately either on insurance or pay. This is the easy, cheap bit. Your consultant will tell you then whether to have MOHs treatment for a malignancy or hopefully it is an actinic keratosis or pre-cancerous or nothing. If you need MOHS you can go straight back into the nhs, but you have a relationship with a specialist and you are further in the process, ie they will know it is a cancer. Or at this point use your private health insurance. In a nutshell dont wait for your diagnosis, get it done.
I paid £1000 for biopsies for a bleeding area on my nose. The specialist also picked up on a pearl white area and did two biopsies. They don’t hurt but you will have stitches and plasters for two weeks. I had results within a week of actinic keratosis, watch and wait. Specialist was surprised as he thought one was basal cell carcinoma. MOHS is invasive and expensive but is the gold standard for removal - my mum is on the nhs and has multiple bcc’s and has just been given ‘chemo cream’. My gp says that lack of funding in our area usually means you will be given cream for early stages rather than surgery.

It's a separate discussion but as far as I know it's rather ageing of the population (sharp rise in 65+) and rise in chronic illness than just total population rise.

It all was totally predictable though, there were reports about it even 20 years ago, but the govt still did not increase the funding enough. They did it with a complete knowledge of the consequences.

DH is a dermatologist. If he thinks melanoma, he will typically try to take it out on the day. Will get patient to sort authorisation out with their insurance company then organise theatre and nurses.
If BCC (patients on the NHS waiting 9-12 months for the surgical treatment of this mohs on the face) because of its lower risk of metastasis he can plan and organise over a couple of months. If biopsy proven he operates typically within a month privately. So his time frames are very dependent on what he thinks is going on. More and more consultants though are not seeing insured patients so that may be adding to the waits to be seen privately.

Ah thanks for the idea! I can't find this information on their website but will call them tomorrow. If they say it would take weeks to be seen I might just pay for the biopsy

Personally I would start the private claim and peruse that at the same time. I was referred via the NHS last month under the 2 week thing. GP said NHS would be quicker but I rang Bupa anyway as we have private healthcare. I was offered a private breast clinic appointment at 9am the next day. By 12 on that day I had seen the consultant, had a mammogram and ultrasound scan, they found a cyst and so had drained it there and then. Two days later I got the NHS appointment through and it was 5 weeks away. But dermatology may be different. So my advice would be start praying both until you know which option will be faster.

@Ireolu is your DH drop dead gorgeous? Every single dermatologist I saw through my treatment was, male and female. Is it a thing?

Well... Don't know what to say. Surely if gp thought it was totally harmless he would not sent me via the NHS pathway too

Someone work with recently had a biopsy for suspected skin cancer - took 5 weeks from seeing GP to having the op, results are pending but it’s been about 2 weeks. We have PMI and it was going to be no quicker.

Deep inside I wish you were right though. But I suspect that's not the case

I went to the GP 3 times about a suspicious lesion on my face. It was there for years. I was informed that it was 'fine' each time. Eventually, I gave up and booked for a private removal, with hist reporting.

It was not fine. The NHS ignored a basal squamous carcinoma on my face, despite me asking multiple times to be referred.

We also have private health insurance now. I am undergoing investigation that could, potentially, be cancer through this. It could also be nothing. The NHS weren't remotely interested in this either - despite the symptoms being ones all women are told to have checked.

Go private, OP.

Well I think he is clearly, cos I married him. Beauty , eye of beholder though and all.

Thanks a lot for your advice. That's a lot of insights. I think I will try to call the NHS hospital tomorrow and see if they can see me in 2 weeks. If not I'd just pay for the biopsy

I have melanoma. I was seen on a Wednesday/Thursday by GP, 2 week referral sent that day and I had my first hospital appointment on the following Tuesday. This was for teledermascopy (photos of the lesion). I received those results by post the following week and someone rang me around the same time to book me in for surgery to have it removed. Surgery was about 3 weeks after my GP appointment. Biopsy results in 4 weeks.

The longest wait was for the GP appointment!

I would not go private. Who cares if you blow £1000 on a private appointment and biopsy when you still then need to funnel back into the NHS for further surgery and treatment. It doesn’t save you any time at all and it may cause delays because the MDT will be at the mercy of the private hospital sending them updates because those private doctors don’t sit on the MDT that will discuss your case.

I haven’t been able to work since I was diagnosed 2 years ago. Save your money in case you need it to pay your bills. But do stay on top of the hospital for updates. My care under the NHS has been amazing. I cannot fault them. But if you aren’t sure about something or it seems to be taking awhile (for example, after 2 weeks, you haven’t heard from them), ring and find out what’s going on. My experience though has been that everything happens very quickly when it needs to.

Thank you - it's helpful to know all of that

I am so sorry to hear about your experience with the NHS. So scary!

Thank you.

What's MDT?

Why have not you been able to work, if Iay ask?

I’ll also add one concern, I would not want some random private clinic taking my biopsy sample and doing what with it? Will they hold it for you? Will they release it to the NHS when the NHS needs it?

Treatment for melanoma specifically is based on molecular analysis of the biopsy sample. So oncologists rely on that sample to determine what treatments will be effective against your specific melanoma. Some treatments don’t work on certain genetic types. That sample will need to be analysed, if you have cancer. Will they allow that? How much will it cost to get the sample to NHS pathology? If they won’t transfer it, how much will those analyses cost you privately and will the NHS accept them? Is it a reputable lab? I wouldn’t trust just any random clinic that can hang up its shingle to do that.

I have been referred on a 2ww for potential skin cancer more than once
on each occasion I was seen within the two weeks and then had the biopsy very quickly after that
The thing that took the time was waiting for the results

Agreed if melanoma DH refers back for NHS care via GP via 2 week rule. MDT - multi disciplinary team (radiology/derm/oncology/specialist nurses) meet to discuss patients. He refers back even if he is sure it's all out as follow up scans and reviews are still required.

Apologies meant to quote OP. @mindutopia im glad your experience with the NHS has been OK.

I appreciate it's an anxious time for you, I've been there and fully understand what you are going through. But, you have launched straight into the NHS being incompetent before you've even started on the pathway! Kindly, you need to calm down a bit, you won't do your health any good by getting yourself so worked up before you know whether the NHS are as slow as you claim them to be. In my case I called my GP, had NHS ultrasounds and biopsies and then got the results all within the space of 21 days. A friend went private at roughly the same time, admittedly for a rarer cancer, but didnt get a diagnosis for 3 months.

I'm on the waiting list to see a dermatologist for suspected BCC which I've had before. My GP explained that it's not classed as an emergency and is a different pathway to other skin cancers. Have you checked your GP notes on the NHS app? It should say on there which type of cancer they suspect.
I agree by your sentiments about the funding of the NHS and public services in general. I'm nearly 70 and have paid tax all of my adult life.
The main lesson is not to vote for political parties who tell you they're going to cut public services and taxes. Not doable I'm afraid. You only have to look at the state of our defences, the coalition government cut the defence budget by a third. The public knew this and still voted for them!

I've been referred 3 times to dermatology dut to suspicious moles (my mother has has melanoma 2x)

Last time (about 6 months ago) I called the GP, was seen the next day, referred and seen within a week by the dermatologist. Previous two times were really quick too. I

I am in Nottingham .

Thank you - it wasn't cancer thank God but the wait was torturous. I genuinely wish you all the best and will be thinking of you 🌺

Thank you. The clinic seems to be quite established but I will ask all these questions if I go with them further

DH had been waiting 8 months for the NHS to remove a basal cell carcinoma so I made him go private and it was sorted within a couple of weeks for about a grand.