my husband’s is contemplating paying ( no health insurance) to have heart Valve replacement surgery ( open heart ),he has been told by his surgeon it’s a 6/9 month waiting list and we are also worried then about last min cancellation.
so we are now looking at private?
has anyone paid? How much ? We are with old Brompton hospital.
any advice, recommendations? Or how much you paid . It’s not what we want to do but the prospect of waiting 9 months is very scary to both of us.
Not sure about heart valve but i had triple bypass at Royal Brompton in April and cost was circa £35k for private op. Like you I was told 10 month wait for my op on nhs so decided 10 months or more living in fear of something bad happening wasn’t worth it. So decided to invest £35k in myself and my future. 5 months on and don’t regret the decision at all.
dear Dudley and Dave
I paid to save my life. I was in urgent need of the op and all the heart hospitals, including Brompton, were closed during Covid.
I had wonderful treatment in the superb Cromwell hospital, even though it’s a long drive from me.
It cost £43,000 and that was four years ago.
The hospital was nearly empty as the wealthy foreign patients couldn’t come over.
I seem to get given plenty of discounts, so at full price and inflation it’s likely to be more. However, it also included the three essential pre op tests. In house.
Whatever the quoted price, private medical care always seem to have late extra costs. I was charged £2,000 odd (of the £43,000) months after the care. They had forgotten to charge me for the anaesthetist.
If you see a private consultant he might pull strings to get you in to Brompton NHS sooner.
So if you can afford £50,000 reduction in your wealth then go for it.
I suggest that hubby may not yet be at the mega urgent stage. So maybe the wait is worth saving £50,000.
AVR is amazing and I am totally recovered.
When are we going to fund the NHS properly.
Sooty
Hi, when we were having similar deliberations last year, prior to my replacement Mitral Valve. My Consultant said at the time, the issue to consider is not necessarily the cost of the operation itself, but the cost of I.C.U care afterwards - should your Husband be in there for longer than anticipated, due to any unforeseen complications. Unfortunately, there have been a couple of patients on here, who were hospitalised for months post op. Obviously that is quite rare, but clearly not unheard of. I wouldn’t want to begin to estimate the cost of private care in those circumstances.
As Ralfthecav suggested, by the time you’ve totted up the cost of all the pre-op checks - in addition to the actual surgery itself, (Echo, T.O.E, Angiogram, Carotid Doppler Scan & Lung Function Tests), a ball park figure of £35k - all in, is probably the norm. However, if there are any other complications post op (I needed a brain scan to rule out a stroke, then went into A.F, my blood pressure was in my boots and my I.N.R wouldn’t regulate), - these will all be additional costs, as will require a lengthier stay and further tests. (I was in for 2 weeks).
Not wishing to cause concern, but I think you would need to allow the funds for the op - plus a contingency fund, just in case - but hopefully never to be used. 🤞🏻 Wishing you both all the best, whatever you decide.
I had a range of scans on the NHS and was placed on the TAVI waiting list at Hammersmith Hospital. I was given the impression that I would have to wait about six months and that on the day of my op would need to ring after midday to see if there was a bed available ...
So I inquired about a private op at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, was quoted £42K, and had it six weeks later (in July 2023).
Hammersmith would have provided remote monitoring post-op, there was none from the JRI, apart from an ECG and brief check up that cost me £650.
A neighbour had the same op for £60K, paid for out of his health insurance. The visiting consultant at the NHS Hospital quoted £75K to do the op privately which, TBH, gave me a slightly sour taste: why so much more?
I emailed my surgeon about whether I needed to take an antacid (Lansoprazole), as recommended by my GP, and got a very brief reply that I didn't need to. I would have liked to have known why not, but was diffident about following up the matter being unsure as to how much "free"advice I could expect.
I didn't want to trek to Oxford every year for a check-up, so have had this transferred to the my NHS hospital. The cost was also a factor, but I developed cardiac haemolytic anaemia and it seemed wise to have my cardiology and haematology care under the same hospital roof, with my records more or less combined. Despite being in the same health authority the JRH and my hospital could not access each other's records of me...
During my Cardiac Rehab I spoke to a patient who had paid privately and his bill was 70K.It will depend in the stay in ICU, he was 7 days in icu and 7 days on the ward.
My bypass which wasn't complicated was 25k to hospital, 2.5k surgeon and 1.3k Anesthetist.
Luckily I was insured and from initial cardiolist at the beginning of April then all the tests, I was supposed to go in on July 14, it was postponed due to the doctor strikes in the NHS and I went under the knife on July 28.
The above patient had a valve plus a quad bypass.
I paid for surgery. I saw consultant at Royal Brompton and had surgery at the Harley Street Clinic. Including tests I think total cost last year was around £40k. I had OHS for aortic valve replacement. The waiting and uncertainty from the NHS was the reason. I could pay for the surgery from retirement savings and the waiting and lack of communication from NHS made me so anxious. I was told it was at the point of critical and then heard nothing. I have no regrets. Definitely poorer but getting on with life again. I was in ICU for 2 days. I found it difficult to get cost estimates in advance.
I had triple BP last year following a heart attack. I had presented to GP and hospital 3 times in the 6 months before, sent home costacondritiis diagnosis
Following the HA I had triple bypass, I ended up 4 days in ITU AND 6 weeks in hospital
I guess what I’m saying is Complications can happen and I dread to think if I’d gone private what the final bill could be.
I wish you both well
Hello I just had valve replacement/repair privately. I was told it was urgent and we went to Spain. I don't know how much you would pay in the UK, but our experience was super. Also I kept our local gp surgery in the UK informed and they have been extremely supportive. They have added all my surgery reports from Spain to my NHS file, and even offered me cardiac rehabilitation, and a follow up with a cardiologist here in the UK. I thought maybe if we went private we would be on our own, but not at all! Just thought this might help you. After 2 months my valve was repaired, no stress, no waiting, and living life as normal. Hope you find a solution which suits you.
You got your surgery reports from Spain transferred to your NHS file!!! Well done! The hospital where I had my TAVI is in the same health authority as my local one, where I had all the initial scans. They can't access each other's records of me, and I had a job getting the TAVI ones transferred to "my" hospital.
I was considering going privately but it would have been a stretch for me to pay. I was waiting for an AVR, on surgeon’s priority list, which he explained should be within three months but likely would be 6 to 7 months. Surgeon did say chase his secretary if things deteriorate. I was predominantly asymptomatic but my breathlessness increased and I requested another echocardiogram, and offered to pay for that, which I had done before, Papworth came up with the echocardiogram and the results prompted a date for the operation. In the end the Op date/wait was about 4 and half months. Apparently a very calcified valve replaced. So, I paid for echocardiograms as that really was the only way they could assess the valve function. Surgeon took an extra slot to get more patient's through. Prior to that, the waiting with my local hospital to get to the surgeon was excruciating, chasing everything up, each step of the way. Very best of luck.
This is the estimated costs for a tricuspid valve op at RB&HH, it may give you an idea of how it all adds up
What was the cost of the Spanish operation? did you get travel insurance OK? cheers
If you (or anyone else) does decide to have your operation via private funding, please bear in mind many of the smaller private hospitals do not have ICU units or can deal very promptly with emergencies or emergency admissions. It’s awful having to balance one’s health like this…so sorry you’re going through it. Perhaps it would help you to speak to BHF advisory phone line….they are immensely helpful and unbiased. Beat wishes and good luck.
I have always thought that if you can afford to go private it is best to have the operation done in the private ward of an NHS hospital for the reasons mentioned by Call Me Sunny. I hope that you get your operation soon. Best wishes Lexi
until I had surgery I also thought that private hospitals did not have ICUs but that is not the case. Some private hospitals specialise in cardiology. My surgery was carried out by a consultant who also works for NHS, but in a private hospital. He was rightly proud of his success rate and I don’t believe he would have performed surgery somewhere that did not provide appropriate aftercare The hospital had a fully equipped ICU and HDU. My memory of time spent there is hazy but I am pretty sure I had 1 to 1 care. Like everyone else who has OHS I was on a ventilator until I came round and I was hooked up to every sort of technology imaginable Not all private hospitals can offer this level of specialism, just as only a number of NHS hospitals carry out this sort of surgery. As mentioned earlier the I CU costs are a significant part of the bill, which makes sense because of the equipment and staffing involved.
My impression was that certain private heart operations were often carried out in NHS hospitals that had the facilities to deal with any complications. I was kept in an extra night because there was a small chance that I might have needed a pacemaker. My understanding was that this would have been done on the NHS.
With two or three weeks to go, I was dismayed when the junior doctors announced one of their strikes for the day of my op, but I was assured that there was only a slight possibility that it would be affected. It went ahead as planned; presumably there would been sufficient NHS staff available to have coped with any problem that I might have had.
Not an expert, but my experience from the private side is that the treatment is less holistic compared to the NHS. If you need follow up appointments - in most cases you have to arrange yourself depending on your circumstances. Also, for complex cases - better to do your research beforehand.
But having said that, waiting lists are a lot shorter/Friendlier cleaner environment/Organised - system works a lot better and slicker compared to the NHS.
Hi. I looked at private but at approx 40k financially out of my reach. Once told needed OHS for a mitral valve repair or replacement i waited exactly 12 months till the operation.
Yes it plays with your head but if you feel like your deteraiating anyway let them know and always got the impression would move up the list.
All i can say is my outcome was good, mitral valve repair in the end and the NHS wythenshawe were superb in every aspect.
In ICU for five days in a private room with 1 to 1 care because of a collapsed lung, reckon this complication would have pushed the bill up higher.
6 months on from the operation im sat typing this on a sun lounger in Crete, spending my saved money on cocktails 🍸.
How do people balance exercise and rest?
Would you go private?
Heart attack/ ICD hope, Hoover dam, Nope! Lol 
Resorting to private g.p.
Private Cardio Consultant
