When/if does NHS kick in after private birth for the mother?

[mummyjah]

Hi everyone,

Does anyone know if you can be transferred to NHS care, if necessary, after having a private birth? If, for example, things go badly wrong and mother (I know that the baby is automatically NHS registered) needs ICU, will this be automatically on the NHS or will she have to continue privately? Will she have to be transferred to her local hospital or will she be teated at the one that she is in?

I think most private birth packages end the second the baby is born. But I'm not sure.

Most ICU provision is NHS, so if it was needed then yes, mum would be transferred.

Hardly any private hospitals do ICU AFAIK. Opting for private care in no way interferes with your right to NHS healthcare - if you need it you would get it.

If they don't have facilities then you will be transferred to nearest unit that does. If they do have facilities then you would ahve to discuss it with them as I think for your safety it would be treated there but whether it would be NHS or Private I have no idea sorry.

When opting for a private birth you should ask about this but as a general rule the second things go wrong you will be out of the private hospital and down the road to the NHS ICU. Private hospitals do not provide IC care - it is too expensive. ICU units love picking up the pieces when private healthcare has gone wrong

I gave birth at Queen Charlotte's my private package covered 4 days post natal care. I needed to stay 5 nights and was given the option to pay for an extra nights care £533 or to be transferred to the NHS ward, which is just downstairs.

Not sure how this would work if you were at somewhere like the Portland though.

That's because I was with Bupa and my healthcare covered my c section. Not sure what your situation is.

Yeh, my grandfather-in-law had to be transferred by helicopter from private hospital to ICU (when they dropped him during his hip operation )

Thanks everyone. This is in relation to St. Thomas'. I can't get in on NHS for childbirth as out of area (but would like to as this is the only hospital I've ever used, on NHS, to give birth to previous DCs) so am thinking about private but so far can't see ANYTHING that makes it worthwhile to pay this huge amount. I'm worried that they might make me continue paying privately for care other than birth related, if things go pear-shaped at/after the birth (e.g., ICU care, etc.).

Re the Portland - my understanding (anecodatal - from quite a few years ago) is that the Portland ship you straight in to an ambulance and send you to St Marys or other nearby hospital. If you were lucky they called ahead first. Hopefully things are better now but when booking private care you need to ask what happens if things go wrong and then you can decide where you feel safe.

I can't be sure on recent availability but I am sure that at least a couple of years ago HDU facilities were available privatley, if not ICU, although if I recall correctly this was within NHS units.

Even in cases of transfer to NHS the bills can be astronomical. If you consider that some private hospital pharmacy departments have been known to charge £8 each per paracetamol tablet you can imagine what the costs of a crash team & transfer could run into.

If you are ordinarily NHS users and your private provider can't give you the treatment/service you need and you transfer back to NHS care this is ordinarily free at source. You're not cross charged just because you're out of area, although your PCT might be.