is a private diagnosis better?

[Happydays85]

hello
my daughter has just started year one, she has major sensory issues, lack of concentration, attention span is appalling, has major meltdowns, is very hyper all day , impulsive, has poor social skills, difficulty with fine motor skills, will obsess over things that are very grown up for her age.She mouths everything, grinds her teeth and bites her finger and toe nails!
Her anxiety is increasing by the day, sleep is becoming rarer and getting her to school is a daily battle, after a very long reception year being told she might just need to mature, i have now had a referral from school nurse to paedritician. They have quoted me 9 months before I see this person on the nhs, however same doctor but £200 per consultation, i can get an appointment in 2 weeks!!
I was wondering if anybody else has done the private route and if its better and more thorough or more willing to give diagnosis because its paid for. Also what happens with info filtering back to the schools?

At £200, I would go for it, it might not give you a dx straight away, but you will skip the waiting period as the paed can do the necessary referalls at the time of consultation and get you in the 'system'.

With regards to the info filtering to the school, it shouldn't make a difference whether the dx is private or NHS.

£200 isn't much in the scheme of things so I'd say worth it to at least get a better idea of what you may be dealing with (and what not) and where to go next, such as initially an OT perhaps from what you describe but the wait for that could well be even longer on NHS. Be aware that one consultation probably won't give you a diagnosis, so there could be more to pay or wait longer term. There are instances on MN of schools being sceptical of private reports but if they also assess for LA hopefully the paed would have a bit more clout with them.

The vast majority of NHS Consultants also work in private practice. When you see a consultant privately they will ask you if you have private health insurance and if not will refer to their NHS clinic if further appointments or testing will be required.

A private diagnostic consultation would be longer and cost more. There are some reports of schools/leas being sniffy about these reports but this is not an issue where the expert is also an 'official state employee'. Experts do not 'diagnose' differently in private/nhs practice - this would be unprofessional and would seriously damage their reputation.

Thanx she wants to meet me first, discuss what's going on, and then have a second consultation with myself and my daughter, she has requested a multidisciplinary information gathering form which I have no idea what it involves from the school. The school senco has not been very helpful as so far has told me there is nothing wrong with your daughter she is just attention seeking as your a childminder!! The school nurse no I have seen her behaviour and her teacher agrees with me. I just want help and support for her at school as bless she says no is her friend and Hates school at the mo!

The private reports I had done were far more thorough and our diagnosis report gives specific recommendations for provision.

Well worth it Happy.We also went private route and so glad we did.

Can I ask how you found someone to do a private assessment?

I phoned up the nhs paediatrician secretary and asked if the doctor held a private clinic, she said yes and gave the number to me, phoned the private clinic up and was offered a appointment in two weeks. The doctor has already pulled all the info from the nhs referral over to new system. I do not have medical insurance, so think I will purchase some if I want to stay down the private route.

I would be paying for a private consultation in these circumstances.

In the medium term I would also be looking at other schools as the SENCO in particular seems completely useless and will not want to help your DD. I would also apply for a statement of special needs for your DD from the LEA asap.

Hi Happy, i was back n forth to different doctors to try and find out what was wrong with my ds. I was so worried ended up going private, paid to see the same doctor i would have seen on NHS however as you say very long wait, i was there half hour to get dx of severe autism. The private dr then sent details of consultation to my comm paed who then saw ds and did her own very lengthy assessment on him, she apologised and said would have been another few years before she would have given dx, on top of his severe autism also got dx by comm paed GDD, low muscle tone, pica. Best money i ever spent and that was 6 years ago, since then comm paed is always extremely helpful and any time i am worried about ds she gets him checked asap by hospital.

My daughter likes to eat burnt food and other strange things Is that a pics?

Pica! Stupid phone

Pica is eating non edible foods, my ds eats anything really like mud, paint, grass, weeds, faecal smears eats his nappy too given half a chance, mouths everything puts stones, toys, buttons or anything in his mouth. DS will eat burnt food too and also cant have bin in house eats from it as well x

DS also has sleep issues, sometimes wont go to sleep until 4.30am, other nights sleeps only 2 hours max. He has severe sensory issues too and recently got dx of SPD. Also extremely hyper and dx ADHD. He is extremely anxious and not been in school from nov last year, non verbal so very difficult to get to bottom of whats going on.

We spent over a £1000 on having ds1 assessed, but the LA totally ignore his diagnosis (even though the assessment place takes NHS referrals) and we are no further forward

Best bet is see your local NHS person, just a bit quicker. Stay in the NHS queue anyway to keep your place for any tests or follow-up etc. Forget private insurance now, they won't cover anything pre existing and suspected asd will prob massively affect premiums anyway