Private pediatric care options near Sidcup?

[mrkrasotulkin]

I am an expectant parent, living in Sidcup. I get private health insurance through my employer, and think of needing/using it for the baby - but where would I go exactly? There is a BMI Chelsfield Park Hospital in Orpington, but that''s not very close - might as well go to central London. (A colleague has pointed me to Courtfield Private Practice; another colleague is happy with NHS, suggesting that children's experience with NHS is much better than adults'). Are there any local private pediatric care resources I have missed? Thank you.

What are you planning to use them for?
Are you looking for a sort of paediatric GP to take your child to if it is unwell? Or are you going to consult one privately when your baby requires more specialist care than your GPcan provide.?
( emergency care does not really exist privately).
If the former you will have to research as this is not’usually ‘available in the UK. There may be such a person available but they would be out with the normal system. So eg your GP might not be able to advise/ recommend anyone.most reputable paediatricians work mainly or wholly within the Nhs.
If it is the latter scenario then get advice from yourGP( or other contacts) as and when you need it.the presentation of your child eg asthma or feeding problems will determine the most appropriate specialist to see.

I would stick with the NHS GP service as the first point of contact and use the private option if appropriate to be referred on if there are issues that the GP can not resolve swiftly. Where you go from there will depend upon what is needed as there is no one specialist paediatric centre around that area, even within the NHS. Privately some out/inpatient care can be carried out at some private hospitals but for example when DD needed surgery she was still too young for them to have her for the GA, so she went as a private patient through the PRU at Farnborough at the time to have that done. You will also have the option to go to London as a private patient to places like the Evelina Children's Hospital, or be referred on the NHS.

For what it's worth we cancelled our private healthcare after a few years with the children. Although we did use it, I don't believe we got value for money from it in terms of the care she had when needed vs the NHS care she would have had for the same thing and actually with regard to one issue the consultant we saw was completely dismissive of all our concerns and saw no problems, and yet via the NHS later on we had a significant and important diagnosis made for the same concerns. We have had to use the NHS quite extensively since then for other reasons and the service for children has for the most part been excellent. Private can be convenient for sure but it does not necessarily mean better care.