2 week cancer pathway - wait up to 17 weeks or go private?

[TreeWitch]

I was referred to breast clinic 7 weeks ago for a lump & pain in armpit and when I called today to check status of referral I was advised it could be another 8-10 weeks still (they tell me this every week when I call)

So for those who have gone private----

How do I arrange, is it through GP or can I just call up?

If they find anything suspicious, I am hoping it’s all in my head, what then happens? Do I need to stay in private system? Am I referred back to NHS?

I am not sure how much longer I can cope with the uncertainty & worry.

I had a private scan for an underarm lump via a clinic in London. I just called up and booked it, it was very straightforward. It was completely harmless though so not sure what the next steps would have been if it was something more worrying.

I’d look for your nearest private clinic/hospital and ask them what their procedure is along with the costs and wait time to get an appointment.

They all differ, some let you self refer others want a GP referral.

DH recently had orthopaedic surgery privately at a Nuffield hospital. There were posters up in all the waiting rooms about cancer diagnosis and treatments available so it’s definitely possible. You just check their website or ring for advice, thats what we did for DH and he had the Op within days.

I had a lump in my neck checked privately about 10 years ago. The surgeon scanned it himself, said it was a cyst, produced a massive needle and syringe and drained it there and then. Cost £250 and took about 20min. He said it would have been 4 separate appointments on the NHS system!

I’d definitely look into it OP - the waiting and worrying is awful. Best wishes.

I think it varies by private hospital. You can switch back to NHS if cancer found - I was told easiest way to do this is get a consultant who works at NHS hospital and private.

I would also check you are definitely on 2ww and tell GP about delays. There might be a way to get it speeded up. If you tell hospital you will take cancellations that helps.

You switch back. My husbands stepdad went private before christmas. It was cancer. He had an operation and had started treatment months before his original nhs appointment time.

I had this recently & the nhs hospital actually told me I might get seen quicker at the one stop breast clinic at spire. I rang them but it was approx £1000 for a consultation, mammogram, ultrasound & possible treatment on the day. So I continued to wait for my 2ww appointment & got seen after 7 weeks. They also do refer you back to the nhs if you get diagnosed with anything.

Thats awful. When i had the very similar thing and put on 2ww. I was seen within the 2 weeks.
Granted it was 3 years ago but still its awful how bad things have gotten.
If you can go private I would. The stress of waiting is horrible.

To echo a previous poster, I would definitely check that you have been referred on a 2WW pathway & not just as an urgent referral. I appreciate its dependant on area but this length of wait would be very unlikely here. Might well not be 2 weeks, but it wouldn’t be nearer 20.

A little update, it’s definitely the 2 week pathway as a previous issue puts me at high risk of developing breast cancer.

I have had a call offering me an appointment on 19th this month as they are putting on extra clinics so I will wait rather than pay out on private as it’s only a week to wait.

Where we live it seems that some departments are struggling massively. Thank you for the advice & support