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Original poster

NHS vs Private Health Care

35 replies

zuzkah · 30/10/2007 16:25

Hi there. As a family we've been thinking of taking on family private health care. However, after some research I don't see many benefits of paying that much money for private health insurance if I can get similar care for free from NHS. Can anyone tell me what are the benefits of going private please?

OP posts:
FluffyMummy123 · 30/10/2007 16:26

Message withdrawn

mishymoo · 30/10/2007 16:27

and you jump the queues apparently!

FluffyMummy123 · 30/10/2007 16:27

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VoodooLULUmama · 30/10/2007 16:29

i found the major benefit , after years of horrible symptoms, was being referred to a private consultant, and being seen,tested , diagnosed and on meds within 10 days, compared to the 4 month wait for initial appointment within the NHS.. seen in a private hospital, no horsey voices !

FluffyMummy123 · 30/10/2007 16:29

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ScaryScienceT · 30/10/2007 16:29

Primary care (ie GPs and A&E) is not generally covered by insurance.

There are a lot of advantages to private health care - it really depends how much you would have to pay for it.

Heartmum2Jamie · 30/10/2007 16:34

In my experience, not alot! You get seen quicker, which is a advantage, and the waiting rooms are cleaner and less crowded, but I find that the treatment is much the same with any consultant, whether NHS or private. The private consultant may be more thorough with tests, but then you are paying for it, so why not.

I don't have a private health care scheme but do have a cashback plan, so I can arrange a private consultation if I need to and get 80% of the costs back.

Original poster
zuzkah · 30/10/2007 16:34

But you still need to go to your NHS GP for any recommendations to see a specialist. And if you have any preexisting medical conditions the private won't cover you for these. Are there any tratments NHS won't cover?... and I dont mean bigger boobs etc. ...or you have to pay for? Operations and stuff?

OP posts:
nailpolish · 30/10/2007 16:36

you can get bigger tits on the nhs

NAB3 · 30/10/2007 16:40

We had private health care with my husband's last job. Benefits that we "enjoyed" were a resuturing of my c-section scar that the NHS botched.

My DD had several appointments regarding a foot problem and we saw the top man at GOSH. She also had an x-ray immediately the private doctor said she needed one.

When DD had to stay overnight in hospital (NHS) we were given a payment.

NAB3 · 30/10/2007 16:41

Also hubby went privately when he was ill after the baby was born and he was seen within a couple of days and then treated the following week.

Original poster
zuzkah · 30/10/2007 16:41

The Cashhback sounds interesting. I'll do some research on that. Thanx Heartmum

OP posts:
Original poster
zuzkah · 30/10/2007 16:44

NAB3 - So you think it's worth it? Only good experience?

OP posts:
nimnom · 30/10/2007 17:05

My dh has health insurance through work and we have had real benefits from it. He recently had a knee operation and was seen really quickly, chose when his op was etc, but it has worked the best for me when I had bum problems(nice!!!) after ds2 was born. I was in real pain and it was great to be seen really quickly after my gp referred me.(Very embarrassing that it was such a good looking consultant) I would have been waiting a good few weeks on nhs. Having said that our insurance didn't cover the private prescription which was pricey.
If it's any help, we would probably still have the insurance even if it wasn't provided by work.

goingfor3 · 30/10/2007 17:09

We have had it for a few years from DP's work. We have never used it as we haven't needed it.

NAB3 · 30/10/2007 17:12

It was worth it for us but then we did have a lot of things wrong at the time. We also had to go privately for DD for something else and had to pay out £2500. The insurers did eventually pay up for that.

Original poster
zuzkah · 30/10/2007 17:17

goingfor3 - That's my point. Generally we don't need a doctor. I know ...just in case...you never know....and with a new baby arriving maybe we will need it?
nimnom - bum problems? sounds interesting
Btw..would they also cover complimentary therapies like a cranial osteopathy etc.?

OP posts:
ScaryScienceT · 30/10/2007 17:20

You have to look at the individual policies to see what they cover.

Weegle · 30/10/2007 17:20

It's been worth it for me for speed of being seen. I used up all my private "allowance" and then just slotted in to the NHS system but was 2 years ahead of where I would have been if I had been NHS from the start and the damage would have also been 2 years more advanced when they caught it. Also now, because of the same condition I will be covered for private caesarean and maternity care if I get pregnant again which would be fabulous having my own nice room at the hospital instead of a nosiy ward. But we don't pay for PMI it's a work perk for DH so I guess it would be different if we were having to shell out for it.

LIZS · 30/10/2007 17:31

In the last year on our private healthcare I've had a dental consultation/op which I could have waited years for on NHS and physio on a badly sprained ankle which would n't otherwise have been referred until it became chronic.

Original poster
zuzkah · 30/10/2007 17:36

I guess it's good to have it when you need it. And with the newborn maybe the 'just in case' is worth the money? I have had good experience with NHS so far so that's why I hesitate. Is there anything NHS won't cover?

OP posts:
LIZS · 30/10/2007 17:43

Non acute cases get very low priority and waiting lists , even for kids, can be long.

goingfor3 · 30/10/2007 17:56

zuzkah you really need to read all of the poicies very carefully. Ours doesn't cover any maternity care which is quite common but also doesn't care any satys in an intensive care unit so we didn't get any cash back when DD2 was in scbu. You will get consultations much faster and that is the biggest advantage. An example if my friend found a lump on her breast, went to see her gp had a scan and was seen by a specialist all well within a week. If she had done this via the nhs she would have had to wait weeks for a scan and then a couple of weeks after that for the results. I do think it's worth having we have just been very fortunate not to have needed it.

Heartmum2Jamie · 30/10/2007 18:04

My ds now gets all of his treatment on the NHS and I am eternally greatful to the NHS for saving my son's life, but that is not to say they don't have thier problems. Waiting lists can be very long. I was told I would have been waiting anything up to 8 months on the NHS for allergy testing, hence why I opted for a private consultation, but once seen and disgnosed, we opted back to NHS treatment. I suppose the way to look at it is, neither is percect. We have had botched and lost blood samples for example on both the NHS and private. I think that once you have "your foot in the door" with the NHS so to speak, the treatment is pretty good, especially in specialist children's hospitals. I am eternally greatful we have "free" healthcare. Had I have lived anywhere else, ds2 would have bankrupt us without a doubt!

lalaa · 30/10/2007 18:57

in answer to zuzkah's last post, there are sometimes drugs that the nhs won't pay for (eg herceptin until NICE finally got it sorted) and there are starting to be operations which they're not keen to fund (like varicose veins where I live) unless you make an enormous fuss and keep going back again and again. Getting treatment can be a huge battle, which when you're ill/in pain (or both) is really the last thing you need. the other thing, as everyone has been mentioning, is that you often have to wait for ages for the NHS to do anything, whereas if you go private, you will usually be seen very quickly. That could make a big difference in the case of a life threatening condition such as cancer. I had to wait 14 weeks for my 'routine' breast lump check and it turned out to be cancer - I don't like to dwell on what that's done to my prognosis.

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