Crying my eyes out and hating the NHS

[Starfish125]

I'm sorry if this seems ridiculous compared to other children's suffering but I'm literally at my tether and sat here in tears over what to do.

Basically my 6 year old son has been having recurrent tonsillitis since Xmas. From Xmas to today he's had 4 bouts of nasty tonsillitis and today being the worst so far. The tonsils are disgusting, swollen so he can barely breath, thick pus which makes his breath unbearable to be near (as awful as that sounds) and a temperature raging to 39.1. He's on day 2 antibiotics and so far aren't even working, hes off school and I've had a shitty letter about his attendance last month and now the tonsils look worse. I've been told by my GP she cannot do a referral to ENT until he's had 7 bouts in 12 months, and her hands are tied. I'm not mad at her but the whole system is so fucked. I am a qualified nurse working for the NHS and I'm sick to death of it. I actually wish we was like America, paying a health insurance but actually being seen and referred for stuff we need. We never use the NHS I seldom go to the GP or have regular prescriptions and the one time I desperately need their help I can't get it. I'm also 8 months pregnant with our third child and we can't afford to go private it's around 4k and I so desperately want to do it but where the fuck do the repayments come from? I'm sorry this is more a rant than general advice but i can't be the only one sick of this bullshit. My only thought now is to borrow 2k off my nan and have the other 2k as a loan but doing that isn't something I would do lightly as I'm sure my uncles would kick off about her lending me money. Can anyone give me any useful advice at all? Or kind words.

If you make sure your private appointment is with a consultant who also works in the NHS, in a Trust you can be referred to, they can get you back into the NHS and speed things up.
It isn't fair, but these are desperate times.
There are no perks to working in the NHS, except perhaps understanding that the first queue is for the referral via the GP. This is usually the longest.
I am so sorry you are in this situation.
The NHS is in its death throes.
I have friends and relatives in Germany and France and they all say the system is much better there.

I suffered with mine for years but they refused to remove them. By the time I was 13 I was on steroids and inhalers and struggled to breathe or sleep properly. I was on antibiotics every month. I then got an awful bout of tonsillitis which lasted over a month and could hardly eat. I was assessed as an emergency and they actually sent me to a private hospital as I needed them out asap because they were starting to block my throat. They were removed within a week. I'm 38 now and have never had antibiotics or inhalers since.
I really hope he can get it done. It's an awful procedure but makes a huge difference once removed.

The NICE guidelines say this.

• Arranging specialist assessment for people with recurrent tonsillitis (a frequency of more than 7 episodes per year for one year, 5 per year for 2 years, or 3 per year for 3 years) as they may benefit from tonsillectomy.

DD got her tonsils removed privately using Benenden. It's £12.80 a month and you can begin using it after paying in for 6 months. She did not have recurrent tonsillitis, but had enormous tonsils that caused sleep apnoea. Once a sleep study confirmed they operated within a couple of weeks.

DS saw an ENT privately (London) who booked him in for NHS surgery 3 weeks later. DM me if you would like details; he was wonderful and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend him.

I've paid for a private consultation before and explained I couldn't afford private treatment but was so worried I didn't want to wait to see consultant for 8 months on the NHS queue.
He was a very kind man and totally unexpectedly added me to his nhs surgery cancellation list. It probably saved my life or at least saved me from much more serious treatment as the outcome was the cells they removed were much closer to being cancerous than anyone expected and an 8 month plus wait would have been disastrous.
Not all consultants do it, in fact I think they are warned not to, but they are doctors who don't want anyone to suffer so if they see someone they could help they often do speed things up.