Has anyone 'gone private' for orthotics?

[Blu]

And if so, how do you do it, and how much does it cost? Roughly? For, say a day splint (DAFO) , a night splint and a pair of shoes (split sizes) from an orthopaedic catalogue with a shoe raise added?

After a series of disatsers involving cancelled appointents (them, not us) ordered shoes not arriving, DS's only pair of shoes are at a high st cobbler having repairs for holes while he manages in an old pair - which also have holes. And the shoes 'on order' will not be with us for a month. The 'cobbler' repair is scaring us because there won't be a precision height adjustment...but we can't do anything else. They were actual holes.

We have two choices for orthotics provision - the NHS hospital or the local Health trust...I left the trust provision two years ago over a similiar debacle, and made a formal complaint about the prthotist, who, amongst other things, poked DS's 'little' foot and said, as if he was discussing a mutant cockroach 'does THAT grow?'. He is still there - but they do now have a much quicker appointment availability.

So I'm wondering about 'private'.

can't help re; the UK buit we went private here in Aus for dd1's orthotic inserts - only cause I poshed and pushed the physio. It also meant we had very little waiting time - her inserts cost us $120 dollars ( just like inner soles) - they were a soft composite material - enough to give support if they were in supportive shoes.

All I needed to go private here was to ask the physio if the knew someone - luckily she did and asked for a referral. WOuld imagine it would be the same sort of process in the UK.

Could be totally wrong but did not want you to feel ignored.

Thank you Eidsvold - and that does confirm for me that I think it would be very expensive indeed to get the whole lot (for two pairs of shoes), 3 times a year.

But I will ask our physio - good idea. DS has a prescription from his consultant saying what his orthotics should be, so I guess we would have to get a coipy of that, too.

Actually, I am just bumping this, now that the 'with sn' button is up - in case people 'board-wide' know about this!!

Blu - no experience of private, sorry, although plenty of the rubbish NHS provision. Dd's school shoes took five weeks to be raised this time and the sole began to come away after two weeks.

It's just so impossible. We only have shoes on order now because on Monday morning I took DS down to the Hospital and told the receptionsit in orthotics that I would not leave until something had been sorted out.

Eventually the orthotist fitted us in, fitted the splint that we have been waiting for since July, DS wore the splint on Tuesday, it made his ankle red-raw, and the next appointment they can give us to re-fit it is 9th January!! So he's back in his old one with the rivest plastered over with tape, because he ran into the sea in it and it has gone rusty....

It's crap. dp or I will have to stage another sit-in in the waiting room - another morning off school and work. And concealing from DS that his leg is ever connected to any kind of problem.

This is me venting - unprivately AAAAAAAARGH!

Vent away Blu - & for you.

hugs to you blu- i know the feeling exactly- unfortunately for us we did enquire about the price of footwear and it was way out of our price rangeas we wanted a second pair of shoes that dd would be able to wear socially(we are only given a pair of school shoes/boots)
good luck in your search

Realistically I know it's going to be too expensive. To get two pairs of shoes for him they have to order 4 pairs - and orhopaedic shoes are bout £80 a pair. Then there are the alterations, the making of the splints, the cost of the appointments....and all 3 times a year.

Thanks, anyway

blu. I have nothing like your experience but was stunned by the utter incompetence when J had to wear special shoes to try and unbend his bendy foot. They kept ordering him shoes which took at least 3 months to arrive, by which time his feet had grown and they didn't fit and the whole sorry process started over again. Is an official complaint worth a go, do you think?

You have my synpathy. I think that NHS orthorists are just over worked. When my son wore orthotic inserts they used to take 6 weeks to come. There were several occassions where he had out grown them. It is frustrating that there is no easy way to get a spare pair of orthorics in a sensible time frame.

If you want to get orthorics privately there is a podiarist based at a shoe shop in potters bar, hertfordshire who can arrange for orthotics to be made at a very high price. ie. you are looking at a couple of hundred of pounds.

I have to admit I prefered the NHS orthorist and physio. When I looked into going privately I felt that the private people were trying to persaude me to agree to more appointments than necessary. In the end I never had any orthorics made privately.

We got a pair of AFOs privately earlier this year - cost about 270GBP total (sorry no pound sign!).

My 3yo had just started taking her first independent steps when we noticed she was outgrowing them and getting very bad bruises and blisters. Going through the NHS we would have had a 3 month wait to get an appointment to be measured for a new pair - a very long time for a little one really starting to make progress.

I spoke to our physio and found out the company that had the contract with the NHS trust also did private work. They gave us an appointment for the day after I called and we had the new pair within two weeks.

Both the physio and the company blame the contract with the trust on the differences in wait times.

I now make appointments to be measured for a new pair every 3 months, just in case we need a new pair.

Voch - hmmm. So we would need two lots of orthotics (night and day) as well as two pairs of shoes...eeeeek!

I too have been making 3 monthly appointments, but cancellations and orders not being fulfilled within weeks and weeks of the appointment (even if it is not cancelled due to illness etc) have led to our current crisis.

In all honesty, researching a private service is as much about keeping my DP from going crazy over the situation as thinking it is a realistic option. He has e mailed an orthotics service in New Cavendish St - I should imagine it will ruin us just to get a reply!

Meanwhile I have written directly to the orthoticist, rather than the Great Wall of Receptionist - but to no avail.