Gallbladder removal via private

[Caerulea]

Finally had an appointment today for my arsehole gallbladder (full of gravel) at Ramsay health - the only private provider in Cornwall. Been referred via NHS after the GP surgery screwed up my referral 3 TIMES since June. The NHS asked them repeatedly for blood tests & ultrasound results & they did nothing about it till November. By which time the NHS (in September!) had rejected the referral 🤦🏼‍♀️.

I had a phone call & private appointment scheduled the very next day after the GP surgery rang me to say I needed tests...that had already been done & I realised what had happened.

So anyway, now that shitshow is sorted, consultant today said the wait for the surgery with them is 6 to 8 months (it's nearer 3 years on the NHS in Cornwall) & I do need it out.

I honestly thought it would be sooner? Is that because there are no other options down here?

I had mine out abroad 😅

That seems like a long wait for private

Sorry I don’t have experience of it but I wouldn’t be happy with that wait if I was paying a lot of ££

Can you travel further afield for it?

I was referred to see a consultant (I assume) on the NHS in October last year. My apointment is next January.

So who knows how many months after this the next steps will be, or what they will be, another ultrasound perhaps?

Oh I'm not paying ha, we can barely afford Christmas. The NHS is, presumably to stop me taking action against the GP surgery for how badly they've screwed up.

But still, yes I'm surprised too. It will also fall in the middle of the busiest time of year for my business, which is just me.

I think that it has to be within 3 months of that consultant appointment, if not then the tests need redoing? I did read up the NICE guidelines on it all but can't remember atm ( my kids have gifted me some horrible flu)

Great

Ive waited around 70 weeks for that appointment by the time I get it

I had mine removed in April 2014 referral was Oct 2013 so 6 months on the NHS back then! Can't believe it's 3 years now!

It varies by region, & Cornwall is definitely the worst, but yes pre-covid was different times for gb removal. It's considered elective even if you end up in hospital with pancreatitis repeatedly.

Cos we all want organs removed for shits & giggles... Or it could be that it primarily affects middle aged women...

@soupfiend it's bloody awful, I'm so sorry. I'm many ways I'm lucky the gp surgery messed up so badly. I was advised to ring the general surgery dept at the hospital to gently plead my case (that's how I found out about the first two screw ups), have you tried that yet?

If you pay for private, it's only a few days' wait, so they are really ripping the piss.

@PicturePlace that's what I wondered, if the wait is longer cos the NHS is paying & not me? But given the 3yr wait & only one private hospital it also seems reasonable that it's just how it is in Cornwall.

The consultant was lovely & very clear it needs taking out before it makes me seriously ill.

I work in a private hospital (prev in nhs for 20 years) and this is a pretty standard waiting time for nhs referred patients for this type of surgery. If you’re a self paying patient you’d get your surgery in a couple of weeks but ultimately you’re still on an nhs waiting list, the private hospital is just helping to clear the back log. If it was clinically urgent and you were unwell with multiple hospital admissions it would be prioritised.

No I think thats just the wait time, the appointment is at the end of January, it finally came through, but that will be around 70 weeks from when I was referred

But obviously the ultrasound was done around September 2023 and bloods acccompanying it. So they'll now say I have to get those redone by the sounds of what you say

I had mine out privately in 2019, I had a scan privately then two weeks later on a Monday evening I saw the consultant and he booked me in for the op on the Saturday!

6-8 months is madness when you're going privately, I'd try a different consultant.

Thank you :) that makes perfect sense.

@soupfiend I'm really not sure, the gp surgery said the scans & bloods had to be within the last 6 months. Bad gallbladders are just bad gallbladders, but they might want to check your bloods to be sure your liver & pancreas aren't being affected.

It's terrible to be such low priority with something that can be utterly debilitating

So @Phopet has cleared this up - I'm still an NHS patient, not paying for it myself. I was really hoping it would be sooner cos 6/8 months simply couldn't be worse timing. But it's better than several years

My cholecystectomy was almost a year exactly from the hospitalisation that triggered the referral. That was private. I was back to normal in a fortnight, so shouldn't affect your business too much! You also might get called forward. FIL was referred private by the NHS for his knee replacement (caused by an accident rather than wear and tear) because he's otherwise fit, well and working his 18-24 month wait suddenly became 9 months as they said they wanted to keep him moving before it deteriorated further and prevented him being independent.
How many attacks have you had? I only ever had one but it was bloody agonising. I ended up having one giant stone. They don't let you keep them.

To clarify mine was a private hospital but referred by NHS

@MyOtherCarisAVauxhallZafira I'm glad your dad's surgery was brought forward!

I've had two ambulances & about 7 full attacks. Triggered my gastritis, months of wild diarrhoea etc etc. Currently in a quiet patch 🤞

The effect on my business will be massive, unfortunately, it's potentially mid holiday season so my takings quadruple & I can open extra hours etc 😭

And why can't you keep it? You made it, it's yours!

Oh crikey that sounds awful. That also sounds like a long wait for someone in your situation, I had one bad attack. My SIL had hers done about six months after me at an NHS hospital not private and she'd been into hospital 3 times and she had hers done within 9 months from referral. I'm in Essex and she's in East London. So not quiet areas with plentiful hospitals and low populations! I hope they get to you quickly.

Dd is due to have hers out at Duchy Hospital this week. She's paid for it privately.
Consultant told her the NHS waiting list is 6 to 8 months whereas the private wait time is 6 to 8 weeks. It will be exactly 8 weeks from when she got booked in.
She's very fortunate to be able to afford to pay for it. She currently has no life with pain every day and the fear of passing another stone, so very limited diet.
So even though you've seen a private consultant sounds like you're on the NHS list.
Duchy do a lot of NHS work, my dm had hand surgery on NHS there earlier in the year.
I hope you can get it sorted as soon as you can, it's awful living with a gallbladder that needs to be removed.

I had mine out in September, two weeks after seeing the consultant, and about a month after the ultrasound diagnosis. I could not imagine waiting for a long time.

Curious she was told 6-8 months for nhs, my GP told me the 3 years thing. That was months ago though so might have changed? I'm probably still lucking out cos of the mess the gp surgery made of things.

Good luck to your daughter this week!

I was diagnosed with gallstones, when I saw the consultant he said 3-6 months. The follow up letter said 6-9 months. It’s been 4 years and I’ve heard nothing!
I am luckier than some as I have very occasional discomfort (the initial attack that I went to A&E with was so painful) .
I do wonder if I’ve been forgotten 🤷🏼‍♀️