Child’s NHS ENT appointment has come through, keep private one?

[bananainpjs]

Hello,

After 6 weeks of waiting, my child ENT appointment has come through for the end of March. Because I was waiting for a while, I booked a private consultation through spire with a paediatric ENT consultant for Tues 8th. This cost £200 but I have a healthcare cash-plan service work so I effectively get this money back.

Do I cancel the private consultation and save the Cashback for something I may need again or do I keep it for a second opinion and for extra confirmation?

Will the NHS ENT Consultant care for the spire private consultants opinions? The NHS ENT consultant is also a private consultant for spire but for a different hospital.
Would they get annoyed that I’ve gone private and then used NHS when the NHS could go to someone who can’t afford private? However the private can’t put my child on the waiting list whereas the NHS can…dilemma!

What would you do?

Most consultants work in both private and NHS - it may even be the same person.
I would cancel.

Sorry just read your post properly where you say it's not same person. I'd still cancel though.

I suppose it rather depends on what needs doing. I would be inclined to see somebody next week and see what they suggest. You could then decide whether to continue with the second appointment.

When my DD was 2, we worked our way through combinations of 3 different hospitals and consultants before we found somebody willing to do the operation*. The consultant and the secretaries were all super-helpful.

• one was going away and thought it should be fixed asap, another didn't want to operate with Paed intensive care.

Grr i mean "without" not "with". Sorry

Yes I would agree it depends what the issue is and whether or not surgery might be required.

I guess can you afford the surgery if needed privately? After 17 ear infections in 18 months for my poor 22 month old DS we finally had ENT referral. He's has grommets fitted and on waiting list for adenoids out

I would get both opinions if it something critical. Nothing wrong with having a second opinion.

I'd say it depends on the reason why you're waiting for the referral. If it's not super urgent bid probably cancel the private one and wait for the NHS one. A lot of NHS consultants do private work anyway.

Keep the private one
Tghe nhs one might get postponed or cancelled

Keep it, you still gain a couple of weeks and it could well be cancelled.

I've doubled up on my childs appointments recently due to wait times, paediatrician is the same I saw privately which is great as we already had test results going into the NHS system. Its for allergies which arent covered long term privately so you always end up on the NHS.

Dermatologist was a different one and not at all bothered we'd seen someone else, not that they should be after our appointment was rearranged 5 times...

If you were very hard up or didnt have cover it'd be a different matter. Youll have lots of time to discuss at your private appointment so youll be well prepared for your NHS one