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.

If he's in hospital they should do his sick line. They do have them but they are locked away somewhere. Please ask them for one. I'm sorry you're going through so much

Good point, ask the nurse or ward clerk about the sick note. I'd be thinking about changing gp anyway. All the best to you both this week.

DF was given a sick note by the hospital when he was admitted. It covered his stay and expected recovery. It might be easier to ask there than go to battle with the GP Surgery again.

Look after yourself. Xx

Sorry to hear about your DH, so glad he went to a&e and is getting the tests and treatment he needs.

the hospital will do his sick note, speak with the nurse in charge.

Sorry to hear you’re going through so much. Yes ask for a sick note from the ward and update his employer, knowing he is in hospital should keep them at bay, let them know you’ll get a note from the ward when you know more. Keep talking here if it helps. Try and plan to look after yourself with food and drink too.

And here I go again. Blubbering. You really are a lovely lot and thank you for not telling me to pull my socks up and just get on with it. And thank you for letting me waffle. It helps more than you know.

i have just sorted the cats and packed several bags for Dh, tidied up and made a brew. Food may well have to wait until after I’ve visited. I need a nap before I set out again. Will ask the ward about a sick note, because I don’t trust myself to be kind with the gp surgery at this moment.

You're doing very well to cope with such a rollercoaster in the last 24 hours.

Whatever happens, you've moved him to the top of the list for the tests and, if it is cancer, that could be really beneficial. But I'm sure it's horrible for you both sitting in hospital and waiting for a definitive answer.

You’ve had such a difficult time and are still in a situation where there are so many unknowns that you are going to be very emotional - look after yourself x

@BlossomToLeaves they were going to send him home without pain relief because they just didn’t believe what we told them on admission was the truth. The a and e dr said there was nothing to be done for us as Dh had already been referred on the two week pathway. So we would have to wait until that had been completed, Dh diagnosed, then suitable pain relief might be prescribed.

We were simply too quiet and reserved I think. (That’s my theory). Didn’t make a fuss, just waited quietly, not demanding the world. Dh is very stoic and isn’t the type to roar obscenities when in pain- he will just curl up and whimper quietly. Maybe the fact that in the rush to get out of the house we both ended up dressed like the clampits looking for a home didn’t help either. Also Dh doesn’t exactly have an extensive medical record as he avoids all
medical settings unless it’s for his hgv
medical. Maybe he looked like someone trying it on - going from zero interaction with the nhs since he was 24, to suddenly turning up at 59 looking like a walking skeleton? I don’t know, maybe it’s one of those reasons, a bit of all of them or something else entirely?

I am not saying me making a scene was the right thing to do, but attitudes did a u turn immediately after I made my opinions extremely clear regarding the gp actions and her comments and now the hospitals attitude, and that we wanted something, anything done now - there may have been a mention about being inhuman to leave him in such pain and otc paracetamol being ridiculous if you even suspect that someone has cancer and is presenting in pain and now with restricted breathing due to that pain as otc paracetamol isn’t the fix everyone seems to think it is. There may have also been quite a lot of tears involved and I was painfully explicit in the terms used to explain Dhs deterioration. Dh said he thought they got the message that I wasn’t going anywhere until he had better pain relief and was taken seriously.
I have apologised and thanked all the staff involved with Dh for their help.

I'm so sorry your worst fears might be true but at least he is in the right place now. Agree being stoic and quiet works against you in a and e. You are his best advocate and need to be heard. Hope you can take some rest before you return.

do not worry about how you came across to the staff, when you are desperate it shows and the staff know that (been there with patients before)

keep pushing and speaking up but it sounds like it’s all going ahead now. They will definitely write the sick note so don’t bother wasting your time at the GP.

I had the something similar last year, suspected ovarian cancer had urgent scans etc from June, constant pain, off work but hospital wasn't doing anything, Gp wouldn't do anything, I ended up having to go to another hospital a&e and went under their care but still had to wait until October first surgery and ended up with my fallopian tube, ovary and large cyst removed. It wasn't cancerous thank god.

I looked at going private but it was in the thousands. You can see a private Gp but then if they recommend further tests then that will be an extra cost, I would wait for 2 week wait appointment to come and go from there. As soon as you see a consultant then it should be 🤞 fast and have some answers. The Gp is being unreasonable for not giving a sick note and pain relief. I work in a surgery and we would never have a patient wait like that. I would push for help and escalate to the manager.

Please take this further. Contact whoever runs your area. Contact your Gp, manager whoever. No one on a 2 week wait should be left to wait 12 weeks. My referral was urgent and was told it was 12 weeks at the minimum. If you could go under a different hospital that might help? That's what I ended up doing.

Different medical situation but I recently had 2 scans privately, one MRI (referred by private specialist), one xray based as a result of those results after a referral by GP. And then the GP was happy to look at the results of both, and I have been seen by an NHS consultant. So some areas (geographic or medical?? Who knows) are OK to mix and match. Worth asking.

Well done for advocating for your DH. And you were right to do so, as they are not sending him home.

if he is still in great pain, there are other pain relief options so do continue to ask if he is on the right medications.

i hope he has a more restful night and you are able to sleep and eat ready for the coming days of tests.

So what if you can't afford the rest of the treatment to be private. The NHS isn't going to refuse you. They don't refuse foreign nationals. They aren't going to refuse you treatment if it came down to it surely

From what they said I would have to go back to my GP and start the NHS referral process from scratch , in effect joining the end of the queue. They said it was to stop people paying for the cheaper part of diagnosis etc and then jumping the queue of people on the waiting list . I will speak to them again , and guess it may vary by area .

Hope you both got s9me sleep and DH not still in pain. Fingers crossed for the tests today. Once you have answers you can make plans.

Uodate. The gastric surgeon came yesterday afternoon. He was definitely on the list for this morning. Shadows on his ct found at the top and above his stomach opening. Might be cancer might be benign, might be just shadows on the pictures.
Dh pain is still there but he says he’s managing with it. They’ve added vitamin bags by iv three times daily along with saline and everything else. He’s now on daily heparin injections and I have to be there to help hold him. He has an aversion to needles - it took two of us to hold him down for the cannula to be inserted.

I’ve just been told that he’s been cancelled from the endoscopy list today. The surgeon is coming to see us this afternoon. I’ve said that maybe it’s just that an emergency road traffic accident might have taken up the time. (It’s a horrible hope, but better than what Dh is currently thinking and all I could offer as hope.).

As for plans. I was told yesterday by a ‘helpful’ an and e receptionist that we should get married asap and we were absolute fools not to have done so before this happened. So that’s on our list of plans!
I am laughing about it really because it was such a bizarre thing to say to someone just booking in a patient! But yes, I am quietly writing a list of things that will need to be sorted in a worst case scenario. Being active keeps me moving forward.

Again thank you to you all for just being nice.

wow, that sounds like such a tough lot of news to process

It could truly be that an emergency has bumped him from the list, rather than than anything more sinister. the operating theatre or anaesthetist or someone could be using the space, not even anything to do with his particular surgeon.

I hope you get some more straightforward information when the surgeon comes

How insensitive of the receptionist to discuss something like marriage in that way! It might be that it is a sensible thing to do, but there are good ways/times of discussing it and not so good ways...

@BlossomToLeaves i know! I was bemused and left wondering what the hell popped up when I booked home in?! It was a bit twilight zone at 3am.

Ward dr has just confirmed he’s on tomorrow mornings list for endoscopy. So I’m sure that someone else needs are greater. Nil by mouth from midnight again.

@Alphabet1spaghetti2 ,

I think you just have to take it day by day. Nothing is yet confirmed and abdo pain and vague shadows on scans can be so many things.

On the upside, at least you now know A&E was the right decision. Your bill would already be several thousand if you were doing this all privately, and going up by the day.

@Newbutoldfather yes…. I am hoping that the shadows are just shadows or old scar tissue.
I am someone who does tend to plan for the worst, because everything else is easier to then deal with. Not being helped by my lovely, optimistic carefree, easy going dh by passing all the other options and going straight to worst case scenario. Dh has said at least my insistence has saved thousands I will need in the future. I’ve said that those thousands are earmarked for a holiday for both of us when he’s home.

I was told yesterday by a ‘helpful’ an and e receptionist that we should get married asap and we were absolute fools not to have done so before this happened. - for heaven's sake - cheeky cow - how dare she say this?!

We don't know why the receptionist said this, it may have been said in good faith in her way even though it does sound insensitive. A well earned holiday sounds great and something to look forward too, all the best for tomorrow.