Private Paediatrician

[MissTwister]

Can anyone recommend a private pediatric doctor in London central or South please. We need our daughter assessed for Down's Syndrome and are finding it very hard to identify the right person

Many thanks

Can you try finding a private health care provider and telephoning them? Someone like BUPA or BMI Healthcare. I found a paediatric neurologist that way.

Good luck

Thanks glogirl Bupa told me they can't recommend doctors to under 16s and I was on the phone with BMI all day - they were completely useless and kept saying they didn't have medical training so i needed to tell them what kind of paediatrician I wanted to see. Does anyone know if it's a neurologist or developmental specialist? Or something different?

Try these

www.harleystreetpaediatricgroup.com/

www.harleystreetpaediatricgroup.com/dr-jack-singer/

Thanks dugee have you used them?

Do you want to know if she has Down Syndrome or do you want to get her severity assessed? Sorry if I'm sounding ignorant just trying to work it out for you too.

Might be worth reposting in chat so you can get more traffic and hopefully an answer.

Your GP should also be able to advise how the private system works and who it is you would need to see.

If she has it glogirl

Doctor yesterday was useless - he just told me to phone BMI. Have made another appointment today with a different doctor to see what they say....

A friend recommended the practice to me as my son has a rare condition. I've not used it as of yet as nhs is just about efficient enough!

Hi my daughter has down syndromme and I know many many children with Down syndromme. How old is your daughter ? and what does your GP say?

Try another GP or HV. You need to see a genetic clinic if you were going privately, someone who can go through her features and health and then do a test for you.

I would imagine any general private paediatrician would be useful but you could skip straight to the genetic testing.

I haven't used this clinic, just found from a very brief Google search but something like this might help.

www.geneticspecialist.co.uk/

I'm guessing the doctor thinks you are being overly anxious? Is that something you can try and work at alongside getting your daughter investigated?

Might be helpful to talk to lalamumto3 so you can talk it out

That's why I suggest going straight to a genetic clinic might help, you will get a definitive yes or no that way. I don't think anything else could quiet your mind.

Thanks all

lala she is 4 months old. Doctor said he thinks it's unlikely but as she has a protruding tongue sometimes and "perhaps" a flat nasal bridge then we need to rule it out.

I know she is only little but how is she doing physically? Can she hold up her head etc?

dopey question, but can't DS be best confirmed with genetic testing?

We used Jack Singer and I wouldn't recommend him. The one we did use and loved is Elaine Clarke but she's in North London. You might try contacting her and asking for a recommendation.

Actually, it looks as though she practices in central London as well.

www.harleystreetguide.co.uk/doctors/find-a-specialist/?EntryId43=394454

Thanks all. I went back and saw my named doctor today and she was a lot more reassuring - she said she wouldn't think she has Down's from her presentation but as the HV has suggested it they have to follow it up.

She's also going to try and phone the local hospital and get me some doctor recommendations.

Glogirl yes her head is strong as are her legs - she is pushing to stand all the time. The previous doctor just kept talking about Mosaic Down's where there's not much evidence....

Sorry to clarify I meant not much evidence as in many physical markers

Ah, your update makes sense now. Is the doctor referring you on the NHS for a paed?

Has her tongue alays protruded? My son started to do it for a couple of weeks when his teeth were growing in because it felt odd I presume!

My son has had to wait 9 months for a genetic referral. I don't know if yours would take so long but if you can go privately it's a good option.

9 months!! That's awful

It's always been visible but it's not all the time. She sleeps with it in and everything - it just seems that when she's relaxed her mouth hangs open a bit and then you can see her tongue. The doctor today said it might just be something she grows out of.

His problems are very mild so we don't need the medical diagnosis. There are certain conditions I'm sure where the referral time is much quicker!

Hi
Babies with Down Syndrome may have many or few characteristics. The blood test for DS is relatively simple as they take a sample of blood and then send it off to a lab. I would personally push for this to happen on the NHS as if it does come back with a positive diagnosis there is a whole raft of professionals that will link in. Most hospital paediatric departments will do this.

Can you give me an indication of which london Borough you are in as I may be able to point you in the correct direction.
It may also be worth you talking to the Down Syndrome Association as they may be able to give you some help as well.

When our daughter was born they suspected down syndrome, they took a blood test and the results were back in about 48 hours. I suspect that you need to carry out the test as you are now worried.
Most children with ds are picked up in pre diagnostic testing, the ones that slip through the testing as my daughter did are picked up at birth, it is very very unusual to not be diagnosed at birth, although it can happen.
Good luck and please feel free to PM me if you want to.

Thanks LaLa. I live in South London.

I'm feeling more reassured after this morning as the doctor said she really didn't think she had it. The only marker is her tongue often sticking out and she thought it might just be something she did and would grow out of.

I also had the Harmony test when pregnant which looks at the baby's DNA and that said at the time there was less than 1 in 10,000 chance so there's that too.

Miss twister there are other reasons why your baby, s tongue might protrude but if she is doing fine developmentally feeding ok etc then just wait for gp to refer on. If you can afford private or have insurance then try portland hospital a general paed would assess. If harmony said not ds it probably isn't but there are other more detailed genetic tests you can do which could pick up different conditions... But if she developing fine then there is no hurry. Does she feed ok ?

Yeah she feeds well - has doubled body weight etc. seems to be developing normally - is grabbing toys, putting in mouth and sitting assisted.

We have found we can get health insurance to cover it now so hopefully getting a private appointment soon.

Am hoping it's nothing as it's not out ALL the time...