NHS/Private Medical Care - POLL

[CountessDracula]

After watching the news last night and seeing that the NHS is vastly overspending (no surprise there!) I wondered how many of you with private healthcare have had similar experiences to me. I also need input from people without

In the past 6 months dd and I between us have had 3x to be referred to consultants for various reasons. On all three occasions I have mentioned to the GP that we are covered by private health care and why didn't we use that to ease the burden on the NHS, given that I am paying for it I may as well use it.

On all three occasions (different gps as is large practice) they have refused, saying that the waiting lists are relatively short for these consultants and that as the complaints were not in need of instant attention that it would not be necessary.

Also when dd was in hospital I told them and said if they wanted to treat her privately then I could call my private healthcare co, again they said no!

I have NO probs with using the nhs I think the care is great, but this to me seems a little bonkers. Why not use private funding if someone has it?

So my questions are

1. If you have needed to be referred to a Consultant, has your GP asked if you have private healthcare? (mine never has)

1. Do you think GPs should be asking this question?

1. If you have volunteered that you have private healthcare, has the GP advised you against using it?

Well then CD - from my own personal experience consultants I have worked with much prefer to care for their patients on the NHS ward because they get better care. Ok, not perhaps multiple cups of tea or waited on hand and foot, but those really sick patients cannot be cared for in the same way in private hospitals. On a specialist ward the NHS provides the top level of care, based on knowledge and experience.

I've often posted before about the ward I'll shortly be returning to, the patient would be paying for private care to be sitting on an NHS ward, as the private sector was not able to accept them post op, and the consultant wanted them to be where the nurses and doctors, the whole multi disciplinary team in fact knew how to care for them best.

did you complain Bozza? Bad that she refused to give you the referral.

My previous GP used to be quite happy to refer privately, never asked though, but his eyes lit up whenever we offered :o

I thought private operations didn't affect NHS waiting lists, because the theatres/equipment are contracted out for certian numbers of hours. So if they weren't being used by the private sector they just wouldn't be used. Our local hospital has a scanner (MRI I think) that isn't used all the time because they can't afford to run it. My dad paid to have a scan done (having waited 8 months then was told he's wait at least another year or something), offered to go to a different hospital so he wouldn't queue jumps and was told it would make no difference and wouldn't eat into NHS time.

private ops do effect NHS waiting list when they use the ITU recovery beds. Admitions due to post op complications not to mention splitting the drs time jim jams.

1. If you have needed to be referred to a Consultant, has your GP asked if you have private healthcare? (mine never has)

yes. in fact now she knows we have phc she seems to encourage us to go private.

1. Do you think GPs should be asking this question?

no i don't. sends out a very bad message - as tribpot said.

1. If you have volunteered that you have private healthcare, has the GP advised you against using it?

no - see above. she seems to encourage it.

No baka I didn't. I think she thought we were over-reacting. She misdiagnosed it as a strawberry mark because it was so scabbed up it was really difficult to tell what it was. And they try to leave strawberry marks if possible so I think that she thought any consultant appt wasn't really necessary.

It would have been the same consultant because I rang round and checked.

CountessDracula, can I ask you a question given your DH's occupation. Is there a time limit to pursuing a clinical neg case. DP's family experienced something tragic and traumatic a couple of years ago and have never had the heart to look into it legally. Do you think it is too late.

Sorry for going off on a tangent.

Thanks.

Only seen our gp a few times but with dd (who isn't covered privately any more but we ahd just mvoed from a country where it was compulsory)he suggested NHS would be fine for assessment of her foot but for something which might be ongoing , like her eye condition, we might prefer to go private as we'd get continuity of care from one consultant rather than a team. It depends on individual circumstances really. dh had his wisdom teeth out under Bupa a few years back as he'd otherwise have been waiting a while and probably suffered from further infections in the meantime. I think there are some people who would be happy to use either private insurance or for Pay as You Go private appointments but may otherwise not think about doing so or know how to proceed.

drosophilia it is 3 years from date of knowledge or 3 years from date of majority if the claimant is a child (unless i think the child is not deemed to reach the age of majority eg because of brain damage in which case I think there is no limitation)

This is just from my knowlege, I am NOT a lawyer, I can check with dh tonight if you like

1. Yes
2. Yes
3. N/A

GP advised me to go private as would be seen more quickly.

It would have quite a negative impact on me if the gp asked that tbh

as i can't afford private health care any way it would rather rub my nose in the fact and make me feel I was a second class citizen, rightly or wrongly I'd be inclined to think that the implication was that the nhs wasn't very well served in that area

Thanks CountessDracula. It is very kind of you to talk to your DH. Looks like there is some time for them to pursue it but to be honest I don't think they can stomach it.