Hi,
I’m a patient at Care Woking. I am coming to the end of stimulation for my first cycle, egg retrieval is tomorrow, so I can only comment on the early stages.
For me the worst part of the whole process has been the NHS referral. My GP had completed all the diagnostic tests in advance, at the same Trust, so they could see all of the results, but they insisted on repeating them all ahead of meeting with the consultant, which took months. They also lost a few, didn’t act on things as stated and I had to follow up after silence to find the results were already back, that kind of thing. Once I’d seen the consultant things moved a bit quicker. That process was only 6 months from GP referral to contact from Care- so I realise how lucky I am in the scheme of things. The apparent incompetence and slowness was extremely stressful as it just felt like yet another wasted month with no progress. It felt never ending as each stage revealed yet more repeated requirements.
My expectations were therefore very low.
Care experience has been a breath of fresh air by comparison. I was contacted to confirm they had received the referral within 24hrs, the funding was applied for the same day and I heard we had approval within a week. It took about 6 weeks between funding approval and our appointment with the Care consultant. It was a further 6 weeks between that appointment and starting stimulation due to my cycle. I think it could have been 4 weeks if you are lucky and aligned. It was a lot of admin to coordinate- learning videos of the process, consent forms and arranging for pharmacy delivery.
The communication has been amazing throughout mostly via their app, but I’ve also had some updates via phone.
A positive experience so far, I trust their expertise- although of course still very nervous for the outcome tomorrow. Fingers crossed we get some good quality eggs.