Hello,
My question regards how to get cosmetic work done on the NHS.
I had a serious illness, a rare form of toxicity, which started 5 years ago and caused me to lose significant adipose (fatty) tissue throughout my body and face.
It didn’t totally disfigure me, but it has profoundly and dramatically changed my appearance in a very negative way.
If you had never met me before, you may not think there was a problem, but people who knew me previously are shocked by what happened to my face.
As a young woman this has been psychologically traumatising, and I have developed agoraphobia and become a shell of my former self.
I saw a private plastic surgeon about 4 years ago, and he told me that due to the significant facial tissue loss, I would be suitable for a fat augmentation to the face (i.e. they perform liposuction on another part of my body and augment the fat to my face where the tissue has been lost).
He told me he could not perform the surgery until we were sure that the tissue loss has stopped.
The tissue loss has well and truly stopped now.
However, it took me all my savings just to get my illness resolved (I had to go private because the NHS do not help with rare conditions, or at least, they didn’t help me in my experience).
So I’m unable to afford to get the fat augmentation done privately.
I looked at the guidelines for the type of work that the NHS may pay for, and they will only do cosmetic work in very rare instances and there needs to be a proven psychological need.
It was hard to get my physical illness resolved because I have a history of anxiety, and so GPs didn’t believe my physical symptoms and I ended up on a wild goose chase and having to spend thousands of pounds of my own money, purely to get it properly investigated and diagnosed.
I vowed never again to report any mental health issues to doctors, because they use it against you to disbelieve your physical symptoms so easily and flippantly.
My questions are:
- Do I need to get a diagnosis e.g. PTSD/depression by a psychiatrist in order for the NHS to consider paying for the surgery?
- As the private surgeon has evidenced that I have indeed lost profuse tissue throughout my face and I have a diagnosis for the illness I suffered, will that be enough “evidence” of need, or do I need a psychological diagnosis for the effects on my mental health additionally?
- I consulted this surgeon privately but he also does NHS work. If I ask him to refer me to himself on the NHS, could he be resistant to this? (i.e. will he get paid less for the surgery if it’s done on the NHS?)
- Should I get the psychological diagnosis before seeing the surgeon again and present him with this before asking him if he would refer me for the work on the NHS?
Thanks in advance for any advice.