How to go about a private GP appointment.

[Alphabet1spaghetti2]

Would be grateful for any advice as I think my brain has glitched.

How do I go about booking a private GP face to face appointment ? It is for suspected stomach cancer. Is bupa better than Nuffield, do I need to find one that specialises in Gastric or pain relief? Or are they generalists? Google is giving me the impression that I need to book a face to face at a private hospital as opposed to a clinic based GP.

Dh has seen his Nhs GP and has been referred on the two week pathway, but is in pain and needs to know what he is facing. Nhs GP has refused pain relief other than paracetamol and has refused a sick note for his work. Apparently they are two separate issues and need two more appointments - the next available appointment is a month away. He only managed to get an emergency appointment after 2 weeks of daily phoning. Dh was prescribed antacids. He had been referred for blood tests, (2 weeks for results) stool tests (2 weeks for results) and endoscopy. Our local A and E has some of the worst wait times (18+ hours) and understandably Dh would rather be in pain at home rather than on the floor of an and e. The hospital wait for scans which are around 26 weeks.

@nickyschof those wait times are ridiculously long. It’s no wonder people try to go private for at least some of the tests etc. Hope you had positive news.

@Alphabet1spaghetti2, it's still all up in the air. I was diagnosed with MS, now it's been changed to Small Vessel Disease. Whichever, it's not good, but I dread to think what I would've been like if I'd waited the full year. Hope you work something out. 😊

I wonder if he might be better seeing a private astrological, if you look at the private sites they should list all the services and consultants, many do take direct referrals, if he doesn't see the gp then definitely either hosputal or a private gp. The NHS is terrible at the moment, there are more strikes planned too, I hope he gets the help he needs soon. The sickness is ridiculous and I would cobract the practice manager by urgent email or consult, the paracetamol doesn't surprise me, our doctor is awful with pain relief.

You don’t need private medical insurance. You can pay or use insurance. They will ask when you book. But before that you need a referral from a gp. You can get a referral from your own gp or if not from an online gp. They are easy to find in search. Once you have your referral you take it to the private specialist.

@TraitorsGate and @Shesaidseaside

thank you both. I am usually fairly competent - but today my brain just seems to have frozen in worry and tiredness. The nhs system as dictated by our local practice is not helping that.
I know I should complain to our local practice manager - but my priority is to get Dh comfortable, get his employer sorted and get him a diagnosis. I think going private for even just some of that might be easier on Dh right now.
Icing on the cake would be if I could get him to eat and drink more than water.

It sounds so stressful, I’m sorry you’re both going through this.

Here’s a link to a private GP with BUPA. Pay as you go. The GP should also be able to link you up with a recommended specialist in your area.

https://www.bupa.co.uk/health/payg/remote-gp

My husband used them the other month.

@Shesaidseaside thank you, and i hope you Dh is much better too.

Having the online option definitely helped. Trying to see the GP here in person was almost impossible!

good luck xx

When DH was found to have atrial fibrilation, the waiting list to see an NHS cardiologist was nearly a year so DH saw the same Consultant at the local Winfield and we paid for that (around £250) and then for the tests he needed (which was around £1200) and then once the Consultant had the results he was seen again. The procedure he needed wasn't available privately and he had to go onto the NHS list for the out of county regionalist specialist centre which took around 8 months. It was a horribly long and stressful drawn out process and we honestly felt like we were banging our head against the wall at times.

Some friends who had similar went direct to a private hospital in London (they have health insurance) and the whole thing was done and dusted in around 8 weeks for them.

This isn't true. All private hospitals will have pay as you go options. You will find details on their website.

Make the consultant appointment and then ring up NHS GP reception and ask for a private referral letter to be emailed over to them.

@Lovecatsanddogs thank you. That would make it easier than trying to get hold of the gp for an appointment via telephone or in person. I think the receptionists are good (at least sympathetic) just saddled with a system that doesn’t work for them or the patients.

They can't refuse a private referral
if you are funding it.

If you are self paying you can book an appointment with any upper gi surgeon who has an appointment. If you go down this route do le check that they have an nhs practice and an interest in cancer investigation.
However, if you are on the 2Ww pathway DH will be seen and assessed within 2 weeks and there won't be delays for scans. The only reason for delays on investigations is if cancer has been ruled out.My advice would be that private is unlikely to be more than a day or two quicker and once scans are done could be incredibly costly.
As far as sick leave is concerned there should be no problem in getting a fit note . The first week is self certification and after that a Dr needs to sign so contact the practice by whatever means are available to you and explain. There is no problem if there is a day or two wait.
Best of luck

@Lovecatsanddogs I would worry that a request from us could be pushed to the bottom of the pile, (assuming we could get hold of the gp to ask on Monday). Whereas the reception is open all day to go and see, and the request would just be put in front of a gp along with other stuff to review/sign? So might be quicker to get done. Certainly easier for dh.

I have booked private appointments before and had a referral emailed over from
NHS Gp to coincide with appointment time.

private does not always mean quicker…li know with suspected breast cancer referrals that often the nhs 2 week pathway can be far quicker….once you have an appt it’s a one stop shop appointment so all scans, bloods, consultations and biopsy done in one day….I’ve known people go private and been 3 to 4 weeks behind nhs patients getting their biopsy results…just something to bear in mind

Sick notes can be back dated….so don’t worry about that

@yikesanotherbooboo thank you so much for replying. If cancer gets ruled out, (fingers and toes are crossed) and his pain becomes manageable, we would happily take waiting for whatever was needed.
I guess like a lot of surgeries, ours isn’t easy to navigate. I just want things to be easier for Dh to navigate - I cannot do it for him at the nhs surgery, I get told gdpr/he’s an adult etc etc. I hope a private gp/consultant will be easier than the current nhs system I’m dealing with for him.

He’s been defeated by the amount of log into this that and the other hospital app/blood test app at another center/patient access app/gp surgery app yesterday trying to book his various nhs tests. Fortunately I have managed to get some of it done tonight online - good job they don’t use facial recognition to log on.

@Kitkat1523 oh I didn’t know that about sick notes- so massive thank you. His self certification will run out this Thursday, he works mid week to mid week, so I do need to sort out something quickly. Tesco and employment law are like two separate planets. The union can sometimes act like a third planet. It’s a hassle I would like to avoid if at all possible.

Just to reiterate there is no need to get a private GP involved in this scenario. Secondly the NHS is going to be as quick or almost as quick as private investigation ( much much cheaper) although in the private sector you may feel more cosseted .
The fit note isn't an issue and will get done.

Do you want a private GP just for pain relief and sick note, or do you want a copy of your referral to see someone privately about DH stomach pain?
If private GP a simple Google will give you local or online options, don't need to register, usually about £40-£60

@Alphabet1spaghetti2 haven't read all the posts here but have you checked if your or your DH's employer offer a GP service? This is a super common benefit and I know some retail companies (M&S) do, they can prescribe private prescriptions and do sick notes as a minimum. Recommend you check this out as they're usually 24/7 - best of luck!

The NHS are generally pretty good at cancer still, especially in specialist units. I wouldn’t rush down the private route for this unless you are prepared to spend thousands (and that would just be to get the diagnosis). Treatment can be a lot more than that.

You could do the endoscopy privately and that would probably tell you whether it was cancer or not (including doing biopsies privately) but, even then, unless you go down the private surgery and oncology route, which would be 10s, or even 100s of thousands, you would then need to get back into the NHS, who may want to repeat the tests anyway.

If pain is the issue, A&E is the place. If he is on the two week pathway, I would wait for the NHS appointment to come through and, if it hasn’t, keep pushing them, asking for alternative hospitals etc.

It is a real bore that the NHS is so awful at the moment in terms of delays, but the top hospital cancer treatment is still world class.