Has anyone had surgery at a private hospital?

[Pinkstuffs]

I need reconstructive surgery on my bladder after a botched csection, and I’m getting frustrated at the delays and lack of communication from the NHS. I know the same consultant will probably carry out the procedure. Wondering if anyone has had bigger surgery through Spire or similar? I have health insurance through my employer. Would you recommend it? What happens in case of complications etc? Do they transfer you to an NHS hospital?

My DH had an inguinal hernia repair at our local Winfield hospital. When they put him under anaesthesia, he was found to have a heart condition (that hadn't showed on any of his pre op assessments) and they had to reverse things pretty quickly. He was transferred to the local NHS hospital by ambulance. At the time, it was terrifying. We've since realised that none of our local private facilities have any level of high dependency care or intensive care and for that reason alone, we'd never risk surgery again in another. Those moments of transfer between hospitals could be the difference between life and death should a problem occur.

We are lucky. Our spire hospital is almost opposite the major hospital. I would not hesitate to have surgery privately there. My husband and mum have had surgeries there. My husband's was very serious.

My children both have and it was an excellent service. It was carried out by the same surgeon as the NHS surgery but it was so much quicker. The care was excellent but to be fair we've always had excellent NHS care too. I'm not sure about the complications question but I'd have thought it would stay within their care although the private facility we used was on the same site as the NHS hospital. If you have Health Insurance through your employer you are paying additional tax as its a benefit in kind, it would seem pointless having it if you're not going to use it. If I were you I would, at least, have the consultation with the clinic to see what they suggest. Good luck!

My DB is a consultant doctor at both NHS and Spire, and always says to only go private for speed. I don’t think they have much in th way of intensive care so any complications get shipped back to the NHS I believe

There is a reason most private hospitals are close to NHS hospitals with A&E facilities and that is simply if things don't go as planned you can be transferred quickly to receive emergency care.

Having said that though, it doesn't mean things will go wrong. My DM had various surgeries over the years privately, including a tricky one on her spine and all went well. And she definitely enjoyed the aftercare and good nutritious food there.

Having spent quite a bit of time recently on NHS wards the food and atmosphere is really off putting, I found it difficult to sleep as it was so hot and noisy and the food was awful.

I had my hysterectomy at a private hospital. I was clearly told than if there were any complications I would be straight into an ambulance to the local NHS hospital (fortunately only 5 minutes away - and this wasn't needed). This is one reason why private places don't like to take on anything or anyone too high risk - they are better for run-of-the-mill stuff. They wouldn't take my dad, for example, due to his age.

And yes, the same NHS gynae consultant that had been looking after my care was the one wielding the knife in the private hospital too. I just got to queue-jump and enjoy a private room and a comfy bed.

I think it's well worth kicking off the process and being referred for a consultation, and they will be able to advise if they are happy to do it. Especially if the NHS has left you hanging.

I had my gallbladder out in a private hospital which has a corridor to the NHS hospital, my DH had a heart operation at Harefield hospital which has does have private HDU within. Have you googled the Consultant to see which hospitals he works in, otherwise contact the Consultants office/secretary who I’m sure will be able to answer your queries.

If it's the delays and comms that are doing your nut in with your NHS experience and you already have the private cover through work, I'd say to use it. My husband has it through his work and has only used it for knee surgery - for work it meant he was back fit and well more quickly than being on a list for ages. It's often the same doctors you'd have in the NHS but the speed at which he was seen was the major difference. I had a surgery more recently for a biopsy on a suspicious lump. Thankfully all was fine. He said he'd start the process with the private healthcare but the NHS were super speedy even though it was post Covid and very busy because it was something they were very concerned about and wanted to get sorted quickly.

Long way to say - go for it.

DD and I have both had numerous operations privately and they have all been 100% positive experiences.

The money bought us peace and quiet, calm, a pleasant environment and of course speed. Neither of us have ever had complications, but I believe transfer to NHS is standard in that scenario.

We both had unexpected issues during recovery which were handled brilliantly. When Dads wound got horribly infected we had to go back to the hospital every day for 3 weeks - they didn’t charge anything extra and were really flexible with appointment times.

Had my bunion removed at a Spire hospital and it was a much better experience that the one that was done by the NHS.

Just to mention, the time you spent in the NHS hospital, it is something that would have been covered in your pmi policy, check to see if you have NHS cashback included. You might be able to claim some money.

I've had gallbladder removal at a Spire hospital. I was left alone after my op and not really checked on much, felt like I would have been seen more in the NHS. But glad I had it done there and not as an emergency on a 2 year wait list.

The care and aftercare is really what you pay for along with speed. If you've ever been on a public ward with overstretched staff you really appreciate being in a Spire single room with responsive friendly nursing staff.

Sometimes NHS patients can be referred to private hospitals to cut waiting lists. Ask your gp if that applies in your case.

Just had a keyhole hysterectomy in a private hospital and it was a great experience. Everybody was so kind and couldn’t do enough for me. Food was great! Also visitors could come and go all day which was welcome. Lovely being in my own room with tv etc to keep me occupied when I couldn’t sleep at night.

My son had major surgery recently at a private hospital. They had an intensive care unit there where he stayed for several days afterwards, so they would have been fully able to deal with any complications without having to be transferred to an NHS hospital.

We mainly went privately to have the surgery sooner, reduce the risk of cancellations and for the increased levels of nursing care afterwards. He had 1:1 nursing care throughout his time in PICU, and then 1:2 when back on the ward (in a private room).

Based on our experience, I would definitely recommend going privately if you’re able to.

We have had loads of surgeries privately. We always choose a consultant who also works at the local NHS hospital, which is most of them tbh, and pick the local Nuffield which has a connecting corridor with the regional NHS hospital. If anything went wrong, you would be whisked over in 5 minutes, with the same consultant in charge.

You get a room to yourself, an ensuite, excellent care, fantastic food. Its worth it, especially if you have private cover. We paid for DH's hip recently, as we lost our private cover. Still worth it. He got his hip done, even before he got an appointment to see a consultant in the NHS. He would have been disabled if he had been left on the NHS. Same consultant too.

I went private for my first bowel surgery but as they didn’t offer keyhole it was carried out in the ‘normal’ hospital anyway

Our family have had lots of private operations at the local Spire. The care and aftercare was amazing

I had a sub total thyroidectomy privately 30 odd years ago. Single room, good nursing, good food, P&Q, an experienced consultant surgeon did the op rather than a registrar.

The children both had grommets privately and dd had a gynae op privately. I'd say it's about privacy and dignity which can be paid for for elective procedures.

I wouldn't hesitate providing surgery was not extraordinarily complex and there werwn't significant underlying conditions.

Mother has a TAVI a couple of years ago, which is replacing a heart valve via catheter theough the groin and an artery. It needed a large specialost team and specialist equipment. The NHS does loads and the cost is about £8k to the NHS at a specialist unit in a London teaching hospital. The Spire quoted £50k and wasn't keen. Mother saved her money but was messed about with cancelled appointments and admissions, not always polite admin staff and the overnight stay in a mixed 12 bed ward was comparable to Hades. Mother held on for a wee until I arrived in the morning because the toilets were too dirty to use. She texted and I took cleaning stuff and disinfectant.

They took ages to discharge her and then told her it wpuld be another two hours because ahe needed some meds from pharmacy and the porters had gone to lunch. I had to ask if I could collect the meds. I could and did. And collected normal dose aspirin so we could have bought them for pennies. The level of disorganisation was awesome.

Had a breast reduction at a Spire hospital. Amazing care and after care. Also had a shoulder op and again it was all brilliant. We also paid for our daughter to have a squint corrected and that was all fine too.