So I decided to get a private appointment, and then what happens...

[emkana]

... I am informed that there's no paediatric consultants at the local hospitals who do private appointments.

"You'll have to go through your GP if you want to change to a different consultant."

My GP is currently away for three weeks...
so more waiting.

Surely you have a locum GP you can see??

Have seen locum GP but she is extremely young and experienced and phones another GP at the surgery every two seconds because she is unsure what to do.
Not really what I need atm.

Are there any private hospitals near you? Have you looked at their consultant lists?

em .. when we've looked for private consultants before we've done websearches with the details in it and location then gradually widened out

also asked on relevant sites to complaint if anyone can recommend

then once you have the name and where they practice you go to GP and say .. please write a referral to x at y hospital

I have normally made an appointment before I get the referral letter .. and the only reason I bother to get the referral letter is for the insurance which would be irrelevant if you are paying yourself

HTH

I don't know where you are based but I typed paediatric consultant london into google and got this site ... it might help

or dr fosters is good aswell

dr fosters hospital guide

just put in your postcode and what type of specialist you are looking for

oops that one was just for hospitals

here's the dr fosters consultant guide

emkana, i have followed your threads, im not sure whereabouts in the country you are, but i used to work at great ormond street, i know most of the consultants there see patients privatly, if you ring up the secretary for whichever consultant you need, they would be able to advise you on how to go about getting a private appointment.
would your ds need to see a growth specialist? or respiratory? if i dont know the name of the specialist, i can find out for you if you want, i still have friends working there (i left a while back)

Thanks for your help guys

I suppose ds would need to see a growth specialist at some point, but of immediate concern would be his respiratory problems, so a lung specialist?
But we are two hours away from Great Ormond Street, it would be lovely to find somebody more local.

yes 2 hours is a long journey for an appointment
if you have no luck with finding someone local though, your best bet would be to contact dr colin wallace, or dr jaffe, they are both respiratory specialists, dr richard stanhope is one of the growth specialists there, but not sure if he would be the best specialist for your ds, but would be able to advise you, i know the drs from gosh do see private patients at other hospitals, so may be worth finding out if they would see your ds at a hospital more local to you?
if i can be of any help, even if its just finding out names of drs/clinics, just ask, id be happy to find out.

richard stanhope is one of the finest paed endocrinologists in the world, and a very nice man. I'm not sure that you need an endocrinologist? but maybe phone his secretary, ask to speak to him, and see what he recommends. best of luck emkana

hes a fine dr, all the parents love him, but he can be a bugger to organise a clinic for

he was very kind to me when ds was diagnosed with an endocrine disorder as a newborn and I phoned him at 11pm saying "hello, you don't know me, but you know my MIL - what does all this mean?"

bet he was slightly scared
did your ds ever have blood taken at the endocrine clinic, if so i was probably responsible for making him cry

no, he had all his care at chelsea & westminster. I quickly worked out who could take blood from newborns and who couldn't and sacked the ones who couldn't.

there was an amazing indian resident who could take a heel prick from him without waking him up. I loved him

i know what you mean all the parents of children having long term blood tests work out quickly who could and couldnt get the job done in one go, luckily for me i had a knack, for getting teeny veins, everyone has to be good at something

my dd has only ever had 1 heel prick, (for her guthrie test) and the midwife mucked it up and had to do it twice, i was sitting there fuming, it was all i could so to restrain myself from shouting im a phlebotomist you fool, dont try and tell me there is 'no blood in that heel' god help anyone that had to take her blood now

hub and lanis.

I still remember the look on one v junior SHO's face when he walked into the room and saw me and ds (aged about 18nths at this point) waiting for bloods. I'd had him 4 months previously where I had given him one chance to get blood, and when he hashed it up and said "I'll just try on the other side" I said "I'm afraid not, I operate a one strike and you're out policy." He had to go and get the registrar who did it beautifully.
Anyway 4 months down the line he took one look at me and said "Ah, I'll get the registrar, shall I?" I said "how long had you been in this rotation when I last saw you?". He said "2 days". "OK, let's see how your technique has improved in 4 months" says I. He drew blood first time, was very pleased with himself and said "I had no idea what I was doing the last time you saw me!"

V Funny.

I never thought I'd ever read the line
"restrain myself from shouting I'm a phlebotomist you fool"

dunno why that tickled me but it did

It was a great line Twig. Bet you were tempted to grab the lance with an 'I'll do it my sodding self' LOL.

qph - love the one strike policy. Blimey, you must be scary LOL.