How do I get an appointment with a vey good dermatologist? I think I'm covered with Bupa

[FGM]

Do I go via my GP? For a private recommendation? So far the NHS has let me and my poor skin down badly
Do I look up someone in the phone book?
I'm getting desperate for some effective treatment for my poor angry spot-prone skin.

Any help much appreciated.

IME you'll need to be referred to a BUPA consultant by your GP.
An appointment should come quite quickly.

Good Luck.

Where do you live?
i can recommend someone but she is near London.

You deffo need to go through your GP or BUPA will not pay- and consultants don't advertise in the phone book.

If you go via your GP though, the consultant you see will also work in the NHS- so don't blame the NHS- what you need is someone with more expertise than your GP>

Personal recommnedation is also good, so maybe if you post this same query under the general health forum here, and say where you live, people will help.

Thanks, I've made a GP apt and will go from there. I'm hoping that going private may enable the dermatologist to use a wider repertoire of treatment modes. I may be deluded, but so far the NHS have done as little as possible to help me and with no visible results.

Ameliagrey- I live in Cambridge. I'm hoping that there will be someone in or around Addenbrookes that will help. Where is your dermo rec?

Whereabouts in the country are you? My mother has a fab dermatologist in Tunbridge Wells.

DS2 was referred via our GP to a dermatologist based at the Nuffield Hospital in Cambridge. I can't remember his name, but it was just a standard GP referral. He was great and things got sorted very quickly.

More generally, IME most of the private referrals in Cambridge end up with you seeing an Addenbrookes-based consultant who also runs a private clinic at either the Nuffield or at the Cambridge Lea.

The dermo is based in 2 places- Kings Lynn (NHS mainly there I think) and Hitchin.
Both my son and daughter have seen her- DD for acne, DS for severe eczema. She is lovely. Her name is Dr Christina Grreen.

If you saw her in Hitchin, you can walk to the private hospital from train station- 5 munutes.

Thanks everyone for recs and advice; I'll ask ab Dr Green when I see GP on Sat.

I feel like there is a picture emerging that going private gets better results in an area like dermatology. Is that the consensus here? This will be my first time using a private provider for medical issues- provided I get an apt etc.

I mean no offence to our overstretched NHS. Obviously spending has to be allocated and prioritised carefully etc...

Def worth going private IME.

With ds1 there was much fruitless faffing about by our gp followed by very quick solution once we had the referral to the Nuffield.

The only benefits are a) you get more time- DS once had an hour long appt with her discussing latest research etc.

b) There are also certain treatments such as Roaccutane which only a dermo can prescribe. My DD had this.