Cancer Treatment - NHS or Private? HELP!!

[CointreauVersial]

So at the end of October I was diagnosed with an endometrial tumour. Diagnosis was delivered via the NHS, who referred and diagnosed me pretty swiftly (good old two week rule).

I was told I needed a total hysterectomy, at which point I invoked my private health insurance (Bupa, through work) and had the operation done at a private hospital. I figured the private room, nice facilities and more personal care would be very welcome as an in-patient (and indeed they were!). Fortunately, the NHS gynae consultant I was seeing also worked privately, so there was no change in consultant, and she herself did the surgery.

Fast forward two weeks, and the histology results are back. The tumour is a little more advanced than previously suspected, and the gynae consultant has now referred me on to an oncologist to arrange a course of radiotherapy. I'm seeing her on Monday. Again, this oncologist works both privately and in the NHS.

Soooo.....do I stay private for this treatment, or go back to the NHS? I'm so confused! A lot of the benefits of going private don't really apply - there is no "waiting list" for cancer treatment on the NHS (as I understand it), the treatment will be identical, and after speaking briefly to the oncologist's secretary, the treatment may well take place in an NHS hospital anyway, because that's where the facilities are! If it were chemo, I understand going private can sometimes unlock certain drugs not available to NHS patients, but this isn't chemo.

There are a couple of downsides to going private that I can see - one is that my insurance doesn't cover outpatient drugs - i.e. anything I take home with me. Also, if there are any nasty complications, as I understand it, the private sector aren't set up for that, and I'd be shunted back to the NHS anyway.

So can anyone with experience of cancer treatment, specifically radiotherapy, tell me the advantages of going private?? I'm fretting about this almost as much as I am about the cancer itself. Thank you!

Do you get a "benefit" in your insurance for NHS treatment like Radiotherapy? DH got paid for each of his chemo sessions done under NHS by his Bupa policy. Couldn't do biopsy surgery privately as too involved/needed HDU bed available.

I'd stay NHS unless you need something NHS can't offer.

I'm sorry to hear of your diagnosis. I would go private if you can. I love the NHS but cancer services are really under strain and this shows in the results for patients. Also, Bupa cant withdraw your insurance if you are using it, but not sure whether they can if you could be using it but aren't? If you loose your private healthcare you will find it very difficult to get insured again for many years to come.

Your treatments might be the same now, but your private healthcare will give you more treatment options down the line, and faster access to scan results etc when you need them.

I am treated for stage 4 cancer on the NHS. I have had no evidence of disease for 2 years, but when I have my next recurrence will have run out of treatment options as the NHS only gives 3 lines of chemotherapy. Access to lifesaving drugs has been severely restricted, and I would be dead now if my last recurrence was diagnosed a few months later; people I know have died because they cant get access to the drug that would be effective for them. The shortage of radiologists and other staff mean that people wait longer for scans than they used to, and wait much longer for results too.

Thanks both.

@randomsabreuse - yes, there is a cash benefit payable from Bupa if I have NHS treatment.

@sleepingdragon - interesting perspective. I don't know about Bupa withdrawing insurance - I get it through work. Having had private insurance for 30 years my hysterectomy was the first thing I ever claimed for!

We sort of used both - and no issues keeping the policy 4 years later although a non- corporate type policy would probably increase the premium to fairly uneconomic levels (fortunately DH's is purely age related as through his professional body). NHS treated everything but we did private cardiology stuff as tumour location was causing loads of interesting heart murmurs (hence no radio...)

I think it's usually easier to jump into private if necessary rather than drop out of private (except in a crisis). I'd maybe speak to the consultant about what they'd recommend and go from there.

I went private for my treatment, and that included radiotherapy. A friend was on exactly the same treatment plan and was treated in the NHS. The main differences were

• the communication was better privately. Friend often found she was waiting for a letter or appointment and didn’t know what was coming next
• choice of appointment day and time. My radiotherapy was 11am every day and I picked that time. Friend was given hers day by day and it was anything from 7am to 6pm. She often waited several hours at the hospital for hers
• complementary treatments - I had reflexology and acupuncture alongside mine provided by the private clinic
• speed - my treatment finished 6 weeks before hers for exactly the same thing as she was kept waiting between surgery and radiotherapy for 2 months

Happy to give more details if you want, but I would go private every time. You have much more control.

One more point - i’ve now transferred into the NHS (see consultant every 6 months for follow up) and it’s been really simple.

@dramaqueen - ah, follow up. That was one of my concerns. Will definitely discuss the options with the consultant on Monday, although I'd rather the consultation was focussed on the medical/treatment side of things, rather than debating private vs NHS.

I'm not so fussed about appointment times - I'll turn up as required.

OK....I think I'm going to go NHS.

Treatment (radiotherapy and brachytherapy) will be identical clinically, will take place in exactly the same (NHS) hospital, and will be on exactly the same timing (as I'm able to wait until after Christmas). Going private would give me a little more of the consultant's time, a private waiting room (whoop!) and more control over appointment times. Going NHS, Bupa will pay me a cash benefit of £2,700 for the 27 days of treatment I'll require. It's really not about the money, but even the consultant was struggling to come up with a downside.

I did go private for the hysterectomy itself, but at the first sign of any complications (I had a haemorrhage on day 10) I was bundled straight back to the NHS for emergency treatment. Not that I'm expecting complications, but.....