Private hospitals in London

[Ellsbells3032]

Anyone have any experience with private hospitals in London. I seem to have mine narrowed down to three:

1. St Thomas - close to mine and my husbands work so easy for appointments but about a 50 minute drive from home. But excellent neonatal care etc
2. Portland Street - little more expensive than the other two but their package includes physio which would be good for me as hypermobile but worried as the neonatal facilities are private if babu needs extra care for like three months could bankrupt us. It's only about a 25 min drive from us and most of the local doctors here deliver there plus only about 20 mins from both our work offices
3. Queen Charlotte - about a half hour drive from home but an hour from either of our offices at least. But has excellent neonatal care.

Anyone had any experiences or advice. Plus any consultant names would be really useful. Thanks

@koo33 ooooh it's close. Good luck with everything!

Thank you @Bells3032 time definitely seems to have speeded up since lockdown

@abelmartinez I hope yesteday went well!

hi there.. thanks so much for checking in :)

Yes was great and Dr Kunde was very nice, i've booked myself in for 2nd july.. just hope that my partner will be able to stay by then`!

have you made any decisions?

Nope but have time! Narrowed it down to St Thomas or Queen Charlotte. Will go and see them both when time is right to make the final decision

I have had two at St Thomas and pregnant with a 3rd under Gabby Grey. She is lovely and the experience great.

@ AbelMartinez so pleased to hear Mr Kunde is nice and you were pleased with everything. I’m seeing him next Thursday. Is it obvious where you go and park at the hospital? Did you hear a mask?

Wasnt as bad to find way around as other hospitals! Go in the main back entrance to North Wing and then get lift to 8th foor. The reception was closed when i went so maybe get his mobile number just in case? I wanted to see the rooms but no tours allowed. But sure they v nice with great views!

Do let me know re queen charlottes.. it was at least 2k more as consultants seem more expensive so i couldnt see the difference. But interested to hear!

Oh and i did put a mask on but took it off.. im not very good with them!!

Thank you @ AbelMartinez that’s very helpful. I’m looking forward to meeting him and getting a date in the diary. Will be in about 3 weeks, can’t believe how soon it is now

Hi @Figey,

Did you already have your baby at St Thomas? I'm considering that private wing if my c-section is not approved by the NSH on time, and would love a recent experience.

Thank you!

@MariG300 Not quite yet, my c section is booked for 22 Nov. So far, my experience has been amazing, but I think that’s down to my consultant who is exceptional.

@Anna0221 @Vsebu8 Are also at St Thomas so they might also be able to share their experiences.

I had my two with Mr Kunde at St Thomas a few years ago and my experience was great. You are in safe hands!

Not quite what you are asking but I had our son at Queen Charlotte’s on the NHS. We had several issues that warranted a complaint to PALS (won’t go into those now), however what I will say is;

• We got support when required from two doctors who came over from the private wing and they were excellent
• The NHS team were excellent where it really mattered (breech prem caesarean and SCBU care for baby) - so you and baby in good hands I think if you need to be handed over to them for anything urgent

Btw the private consultant who helped us and I think seems very good is Dr Karen Joash

Thanks for the feedback, @Figey! All the best for the last days and welcoming baby :D

Thank you for your input @schmalex and @MiniMaxi :D

@AbelMartinez, I hope everything is great with you and baby! I just noticed you mentioned you had the delivery scheduled for July. Could you share your experience of having in St Thomas during Covid?

In St Thomas, I think my consultant would be Dr Manju Chandiramani, I already had a super helpful initial talk with her to understand the process and she also seems amazing, great reviews too, and supported my c-section request. Is still a back-up plan for me since I live in Manchester, so my first choice is trying to get an elective c-section approved and scheduled in my local hospital here so I do not have to relocate to London for several weeks, but if by 28 weeks the NHS did not approve it yet, I'm definitely going private to London (still surprised that there are not private options for c-section in Manchester though)

@MariG300 Manju Chandiramani performed a cervix scan for me. She seems lovely but I got the feeling that she doesn’t have that much administration support. I had to chase her for my scan report and when it came through a few weeks later it had information on it which didn’t correspond to what she told me in the room. Not sure if it was due to the lag in preparing the report. That was my only interaction so sorry I can’t provide more info. Is there any reason you’re choosing her? I’d highly recommend Con Keheller.

Good to know, @Figey! I initially choose Dr. Manju because she was one of the few women in the list (usually prefer female OBGYN) and the hospital site has good reviews mentioning her. Her secretary replied quickly, and the Dr called me to talk about the process and my options (coming from another city) a few days later (no cost for the phone consultation about the process)

But, you experience, plus so many positive experiences here with Dr Con Kelleher, and the super video you shared of him supporting c-section choice, is making me reconsider. I will think about it some more.

Thank you so much for sharing your experience!

Hi @MariG300! We are great thank you. Hendrix is 4.5 months now but a v big boy :)

So i switched a week before.. i had a pre op blood test a week before section booked and asked to see the rooms. I knew they had moved from private to NHS but was told wverything the same.. not true. Air con wasnt working, no blinds onnwindow, no wifi, no tv, no fridge. Not to be a diva or anything but i was paying for the nose through this so really not ok.

Dr Kumar was very nice about it but the hopsital said rhey couldnt fix the air con in time (it was about 30 degrees at the time) and the whole thing just didnt seem to match the £££ price tag.

So i got back in contact with Muna Kooni at queen charlottes and luckily they had a slot the following week for stanley clayton. It was 2 days earlier than st thomas but was good because baby decided to come in the middle of the night before!

Anyway all v stressful week before first baby, and two weeks after my mum died :( however, mooni was lovely and couldnt fault stanley clayton. Was a lovely little bubble which i thibk made such a difference to not just birth experience but wntire experience of new motherhood. I got so much care and attention.. especially with help with breastfeeding. Not easy!! Also on second night was feeling pretty shattered and they took baby, fed him and put him to sleep so i got to sleep for about 4 hours. Bliss!

Its not 5 star luxury or anything.. food was a bit basic but the attention was amazing. I think the actual opp could have been done anywhere and any nhs surgeon. Its so quick. But its the days following that were worth every penny

Let me know if you have any Qs but no in short... unless st thomas koved back to westminster suite i wouldnt recommend. But if they have i habe heard great things.. and it is about 2k cheaper than stanley clayton

Oh btw if price is an issue (when isnt it?!) Then Kings hospital do chepaest peivate i could find but they said with covid room wasnt guaranteed. Kind of the whole point!?!

@AbelMartinez, thank you so much for your feedback, and congrats on baby Hendrix!

I definitely get why you choose to change, makes no sense to pay the expensive private hospital fees for such a reduced service and quality.

It depends if you are thinking you would like to give birth naturally or have a planned c-section?

If naturally, then I would opt to be as close to the hospital as possible. Trust me, it is not enjoyable having contractions in a car. You can also never predict the traffic getting across London (or the time that you need to go in...rush hour eek). Just the thought of it makes me anxious. So in that situation, I would choose Queen Charlotte. For the days you have appointments you can work from home rather than go from the office?

I would personally like to be supported by a hospital with a specialist NICU incase anything happens too.

Also getting home with the baby. Again, I wouldn't fancy a long journey with a newborn and feeling sore yourself.

So proximity to hospital from home would be my top priority, personally.

Echoing @hellorose. I went into labour 5 hours before my planned c section.. thank F we only needed to go 15 mins to quuen charlotte rather than 50 mins to st george. Also my husband was allowed to stay all day so was better to do quicker journeys. Ahh st george said he could stay 6 hours but then not come back til i left. Another good reason to choose queen charlottes!

Just wanted to follow up on this thread as I want to go private for my 2nd child. @Ellsbells3032 - congratulations and how was it at St Thomas? Did you go with Con Kelleher? Do you recommend him?

I totally understand your reasons to go private. I have had 2 operations on the NHS - open myomectomy and an elective c section (because of the myomectomy) and neither were great experiences. For someone who suffers from health anxiety as a result of a complication from the myomectomy I told my partner I would need to have this baby privately this time. I feel I have suffered enough (not to be dramatic) You don't even get to meet your Obstetrician on the NHS until you are on the table. and they don't speak to you about how it went afterwards either. I just want a bit more care and attention this time to avoid the horrible anxiety and PND I had last time.