Private Breast Lump Investigation. I need help on how private works etc.

[Flump007]

As the NHS have put me and my lump on a routine waiting list with a "worse scenario" 6 month wait to be seen I have no choice but to look into private hospitals. I have no private health care insurance so funding this myself (not sure how yet but think we may be able to stretch to it somehow).

Firstly, I would love to hear from anyone who has had a breat lump invesitgation done privately. If yu dont want to put it on here, perhaps consider a PM to me. I just want to know, how you found it? Did it answer everything?

I am in S Wales and google tells me I have Nuffield and The Spire to choose from.

Firstly, does anyone have any experience of dealing with these?

I have enquired and it seems to be Nuffield can offer a Breat Care Clinic at £400. It takes about 2 hours and I leave with a diagnosis. Includes a mammogram and any related tests but any biopsies (needle or otherwise) will be charged extra on top. I don't have any idea how much this could potentially be because she said it would be discussed on the day.

I am terrified of getting so far - being told I need biopsy, then realising we cannot fund it and still being left in limbo.

Spire broke down their charges to £140 for the initial consultation
£200 for the mammogram
£97 for an Ulta Sound
and roughly £100 to £300 for biopsy.

I need a GP referral for the Spire but can book direct with Nuffield.

Nuffield can see me next Monday. Spire didnt specify.

What the hell happens if they diagnose cancer? No way can we fund private cancer care, would I be able to slip back into the NHS?

Arrrggghhh. I am so upset and stressed right now. I am terried and have so many questions I just cannot think straight. (I have several big life events ongoing at the moment and this has sent me over the edge).

Any advice or shared experience would be very much appreciated.

Bumping in the hope someone may be able to help.

I was diagnosed privately, just rang a local private hospital and they were doing a clinic the same day. Was there about 4 hours cost around £1000 including all the biopsies etc. I then moved to the nhs for the rest of my treatment with the same consultant. England though not wales

Hope yours is better news and a visit would reassure you

Thanks for responding malteserzz. I hope you are now well again.

Was it a Nuffield or Spire hospital?

I recently went to the Nuffield - same scenario as you, I had an 18 week wait for an NHS referral and couldn't bear the anxiety/what ifs for that long.

I booked direct with Nuffield and they were great. It cost me £280 for a thorough exam and a mammogram. I was there about 2 hours and was told on the day that there was nothing to worry about. The relief was worth every penny of the £280. The consultant I saw was the same one I would have seen through the NHS.

I was worried about a cancer diagnosis and private care fees as I have no insurance. I was told that if a diagnosis of cancer was made I could go back into the NHS system for treatment (obviously with NHS waiting times).

Good luck, I hope your results are a reassurance and a relief.

I am so glad you had a good outcome Kiss. I am looking at the Nuffield. My local one offers a breast care clinic where they said I will be there for about 2 hours maybe longer but come away with a daignosis. I can go without a GP referral. Which makes me wonder if it is more a breast care clinic/well woman thing as opposed to a lump investigation

I dont know whether its better to go there without pestering my GP yet again for a referral or go to the Spires, which offer lump investigation and all individual tests etc broken down in cost. It comes to similarish amount tbh.

Ok now I'm worried, I found a lump last week, saw my doctor to have it examined and my doctor referred me to the breast clinic at my local hospital there and then to be seen asap. I should get a letter in the next couple of weeks. I live in the south east. If I had been put on a routine list like yourself I would probably just have waited and kept checking every week to see if there was any difference in the size of my lump. If there was no difference I would keep going back to my dr to demand further tests before going down the private route. This is what I would do, but obviously I understand your concern and you must do what you feel is right for you. My age could be a factor as I'm in my early forties. I presumed my referral was routine and everyone with a lump got sent to the clinic to get it checked.

Flump - did your doctor refer you to the NHS breast clinic and did their letter tell you you had to wait 6 months on the routine waiting list?

Flump - just read your initial post where all is explained - I'm so sorry you are getting the run around

Can I just put in a word of caution, you don't always get a diagnosis on the day whatever the sales people tell you. In the private system with one of the top breast surgeons in the UK it took 6 months, a Mammogram, an ultrasound, two fine needle aspirates, a core biopsy and an excisional biopsy to get my breast lump diagnosed.

My sister was diagnosed the same day. Nhs hospital.

Middleton I am just saying that not every lump is possible to diagnose on the same day some are more tricky than others.

Sorry if it came across as snippy. I want being.
Good luck to all the ladies who are worried

I am surprised if anyone gets a same day dx, unless the Consultant is sure it is a benign tumour. A core biopsy would be sent off to a lab for pathology - mine took about a week privately.

Flump If you are considering going private, ensure that there are no hidden extras to the costs that have already been quoted. For example the US may cost £97, but does this include room hire and the fees for the Dr who is doing the US. Again, does the biopsy include room hire and Drs fees. You will also need to check how much the pathology is on the biopsy (if it comes to this). You would also need to factor in another Consultant appointment to pick up the results of the biopsy, so another £140, although it might be slightly less for a second appointment. Can you tell I have been caught out by this!

Wishing you all the best.

Thank you Tiny. That is exactly the type of thing (without realising it until I read your post) I am worried about.

I will definitely check that out if I decide to go private.

I went private after my gp said definate lump to investigate, I saw my gp on a saturday morning and rang local private hospital and got in on the monday, aprox 3 hrs snd had mammogrsm, ultrasound snd core biopsy, then went back into consultant who hadcheckec mammogram and ultrasound and said 99.9 per cent sure benign, just a fatty lump, but had to return the following mondau to get results of biopsy, cost approx 1400.