To go private re dodgy mole?

[morellamalessdrama]

My DH noticed a strange looking mole on his upper leg a few months ago. It has stayed the same, but now he was a bit concerned so we spoke to the GP who referred him to dermatology.

He’s just had images taken by the medical photography team and has been told it would be a 6 to 8 week wait to hear the results.

When the photos were taken, it actually made him slightly more concerned as after seeing them in detail, it did look like it could be cancerous. Would everyone wait for the six weeks or is it better to try and speed things up by going private?

Depends entirely on how accessible it is for you, if you can easily afford it I would, why wait?

If you can afford it, do. Don’t cancel the NHS appointments though. A couple of times I’ve done both routes and was treated by NHS first, once private.

I’ve just phoned our local Private hospital, which has a dermatology unit,, and their first appointment is the 30th of July so perhaps not quicker than the NHS anyway. So frustrating. It feels like a very long time to wait.

some suggestions:
•Badger your GP and ask if it’s under the two week wait protocol.
•Let the NHS clinic know you would like to be contacted if they have a cancellation.
•Call back the private dermatologist and ask if you could take the 30th appointment and if you’d be penalised if the NHS came through earlier.
•Ask if they can contact you if they have a cancellation.

•Ask if they could recommend another dermatologist.
Use this time to get in the best mindset you can. Treat yourself, meditate, swim, do whatever you need to do to distract yourself and look after yourself.

If cost is an issue, I have some info. I had a mole removed and analysed privately a few years ago because I couldn't even get into my doctors.

I think all in all it cost around 1k, maybe a couple of hundred more?

Could you go to a “check4cancer” clinic. I just went yesterday and the screening nurse was very knowledgable and thorough , and sent dermatoscopic images to dermatologist. Should have results back in 4 days.

This is all really helpful advice, thank you so much.

I’m going to book the July appointment and follow up with the NHS dermatology team. DH is ok to wait, it’s me getting stressed about it - although suspect he’s stressed too but putting on a brave face.

Thank you all.

OP you don't need to go to your local hospital for private. You can go anywhere.

I generally pick three consultants and call their secretaries. The secretaries can fit you in for cancellations etc.

What about the boots mole checker service? It's £40 and I got an appointment within a couple of days and results the next day. They only do photographs but they go to a dermatologist. If they consider it dangerous they refer you back to the NHS but under the two week wait (I think)

Personally I wouldn't go private for this, since you have already got so far with the NHS route.

If there is an issue with the pics already taken, it's quite likely he will hear back sooner than the 6-8 weeks.

If there is a problem identified by the private Dr, would you then try to go back to the NHS with it? Surely they would just wait for their own results to come back anyway?

Don't forget many skin cancers are extremely slow growing (decades) (BCC in particular) and there isn't any urgency to deal with it. Squamous also is not urgent but is wise to deal with.

All the best.

There is a shortage of dermatologists so both public and private is slow but in South east at least private slightly less slow

I wonder whether my DH misheard and they actually said ‘up to 6-8 weeks’ as it seems out of sync with the GP referral which was under the 2 week pathway.

To a certain extent I guess we need to trust the process.

I don’t think a 6-8 week wait is too bad by today’s standards. If your doctor had suspected melanoma, then they would have referred your DH under the 2 week pathway. The fact that they haven’t - while frustrating to have to wait - is good news. Most other skin lesions/lumps are very treatable.

For context, I had a bleeding skin lesion on the side of my face which I first noticed in lockdown (so 2020). My GP used cryotherapy a few times but it kept coming back, so eventually she referred me to dermatology. It started as a scab which wouldn’t heal, but then began to bleed more and more, until just sleeping on it would knock the scab off etc etc. It was horrendous! A couple of months ago I had a phone call from dermatology, did I still need the appointment? It wasn’t going to be any time soon, but they wanted to check if I still wanted it?! This was two or three years since the referral.

Anyway, magically and mysteriously the lump had cleared on its own accord around 6 months prior to the phone call. Presumably my immune system had kicked in - good job really!

In summary, unless it’s in a really awkward or noticeable place, I’d be inclined to wait for NHS appointment and try not to worry because most of these things are straightforward to treat.

An acquaintance of ours died recently from a melanoma that spread to other organs. Dh had a melanoma removed from his leg and now has his entire body checked by a dermatologist every 3 months.

If there’s any way you can afford it please see someone.

If he's on the two week pathway, if there's anything wrong, he'll hear quickly.

But in his position I'd call the department and say that I was wondering if I'd heard wrongly and could they confirm how long it takes for results from the photos when someone is on the two week pathway.

Thank you for the responses, they were really helpful. It moved along much more quickly than anticipated and the results are clear. Apparently it is a made up lesion of blood cells and is not cancerous at all. Such a relief. They could tell that just from the picture so he wasn’t actually seen in person at all.

Great news OP and thanks for updating the thread, might help put someone else's mind at rest a little in future.

Good to hear
Boots do a mole scanning service if anyone worried about a mole you get the results in a week costs £40. They have a dedicated website with all the info just search above.