private paediatrician

[storminateacup10]

thinking of taking my 3.5 y.o. DD to have a general check-up and also get her ear checked out as I suspect she may have glue ear following a bad cold.
never been private before, but generally very fed up with appalling local GP who has absolutely to idea about paeds and kids - his lack of knowledge is very poor :(
has anyone had a good experience recently with a private paediatrician in the London area please and could they recommend anyone?
many thanks in advance.

Yes Dr O'Connell at the Cromwell hospital is just great and will listen.

I took my son there when he was about 15mo because he had had about 11 sets of antibiotics in 6 months for recurrent ear infections and the GPs and the ENT specialists at St Mary's weren't listening to me - the ENT specialist reduced me to tears on one occasion. My son has now had grommets after a huge fight with St Marys (and is much better now) but Dr O'Connell was a voice of calm and sanity during this time.

Thanks margo - always great to have a recommendation! wasn't sure if I needed a general paediatrician or a specialised ENT one at this stage, as her problem may be something quite minor like an ear infection even...does Dr. O' Connell work only from the Cromwell or also from other hospitals/clinics that you know of?
Your poor poor little boy - that sounds like months of hell :( hope he is much better now.
Many thanks again :)

Sorry, should have said. He's a general paediatrician but it just so happened I saw him for an ENT related thing and he was very helpful. Looks like he's also in the South London area because he works at Epsom and St Helier but also from Harley St.

www.drfosterhealth.co.uk/consultant-guide/Dr-John-Philip-James-OConnell-1479238.aspx

He was recommended to me by someone at work who took her DD to him for her recurrent chest infections. She (my colleague) was so grateful to him for his care and attention that she ended up sending him a christmas present! (she'd got to the point of fearing her daughter had leukaemia because she'd been so ill for so long and had the same old story of no one listening). He's good because he understands that if your child has been ill for months (even if the illness is really quite minor in the great scheme of things, as ours was) he understands that you probably have all sorts of other general fears and he just sets about putting your fears to rest.

My son was so horribly in pain for so long that I started to wonder if he had a brain tumour! Sounds ridiculous now but I spent nights and nights holding him while he screamed for 6 hours at a time - he would bang his head repeatedly in the night to deaden the pain - and had the out of hours dr repeatedly tell me it was probably teething . So by the time I saw Dr O'Connell I was sorely in need of someone to take me seriously. My son has been pain-free since the op and is finally talking (his hearing was totally screwed up too). Hallelujah!

oh jesus christ margo :( how absolutely awful for you both!
hallelujah indeed!
I've always been such a staunch supporter of everything NHS too...but since horrific birth ordeal with DD and then 3 years of inept GPs with no paeds experience to speak of, I have finally had enough.
and we have had no such problems as you even.
just checked and John O'C no longer at Harley St but still at Cromwell.
we're in north london so H St would be great.
waiting to hear back.
also may have lead on dr. andrew sawczenko (recommended by other MNetters!) for similar reasons to yours.
as long as either is good, i'm happy...

Me too on the NHS. Am a massive supporter of it but sometimes it lets you down severely. I actually went private with my DD because I had absolutely no faith in my local hospital (never saw a midwife in 9 months apart from at booking-in - just healthcare assistants). With DS I went back to the NHS hospital, which had since been rebuilt and basically put under new management and it was fantastic (UCH). Amazing care is there but you just can't rely on it and so sad that it might let you down when you most need it (like your birth experience). Hope you get what you need for your daughter now.

i take my girls to Dr Andy Raffles, he was at Viveka but now at the lister.hes great,no problem too small.

If you are in N London then I highly recommend Warren Hyer or Ahmed Massoud. They are both outstanding doctors. Dr Hyer is at The Clementine Churchill and Northwick Park. Dr Massoud is at Northwick Park, The Portland and somewhere else.

thanks margo. your experience is repeated so many times, sadly...heard good things about UCH but also bad. some rave about the new birth facilities, others slating the horrific waits for every ante natal check etc...who knows what'll be like "on the night" eh.
and to everyone for the great recommendations.
always amazes me how quickly MNetters help you out with invaluable advice on here :)
have now booked with Dr. Andrew Sawczenko at Harley Str.
couldn't get hold of Mr.O'Connell...and needed to see someone quite soon.
thanks again.

I would recommend Dr Hay at the Portland Consulting suites. Very good and if your dc needs to see a specialist, he is very good at referring to the right person. We also see him for general health checks and all vaccinations as we prefer to have all the care (and records!) to be in one place. We are very happy with him, but it is quite expensive (but well worth it).

thanks dikkertjdap.

John O'Connell saved my daughter's life many years ago now - he is really a remarkable man.

Hello,
were you happy with the treatment that you got from Dr Sawczenko ?
I am about to book an appointment with him.
Thanks

Hello, any feedback on Dr Sawczenko? or Dr Singer? Really appreciate if anyone can recommend a good Paediatrician in Harley Street. Dr O'Connell is no longer there. Thanks!

I am pregnant with my first child and I am considering opting for private paediatric care as opposed to a GP - either private or NHS.

I live just outside of London in Carshalton Beeches. I want to try and avoid a Harley Street run every 5 minutes! I'm considering Parkside Hospital in Wimbledon whose consultants also work in Harley Street.

But I'm keen to hear any others experiences. Really would be grateful for advice.

Thanks