Following an abnormal ECG, wheezing and heart fluttering I am being referred to a Cardiologist.
Its a non urgent referral.
My questions anyone give advice on possible wait times assume it depends on area?
Would I be better paying to go private. Can get an appointment in 3 weeks if I do this.
What questions should I ask at the appointment- is it advisable to write everything down beforehand?
And before I go down the rabbit hole of google and the web, any tips on managing the anxiety over this which am sure is making this worse would be gratefully appreciated.
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2. You are very likely to be seen earlier if you go private.
3. Yes write it all down in advance and if at all possible take someone with you to make a quick note of what the next steps are - you might be bamboozled because of anxiety and forget what you’ve been told. (I’m not a particularly anxious person but when I saw a consultant about something different my husband had to wait to park the car, and by the time he found me I had been seen ten minutes before my appointment and was out again - totally and absolutely bewildered and didn’t know what to do)
4. Slow breaths, counting your ins and outs. Closed mouth in, open out, and count (this helps you to concentrate).
If your lucky you should be able to get a private consultation with a cardiologist for about 250 pounds if your really luck choose a cardiologist who also works for the NHS and get him to get your GP to refer your NHS appointment to the same cardiologist when they are in NHS mode..
Also get yourself a blood pressure meter and an oximeter and record your, pulse, blood pressure and oxygen level regularly, a few time a day, I did it four times a day and I also recorded a six lead ECG reading too. Then when you see the cardiologist show them your data it gives them something for them to base your examination on, plus note down any questions you have.
Don’t try and analyse the data yourself let them do that, as your bound to come to a wrong conclusion……..if nothing else it makes you feel like your doing something
It does depend on area, I think in mine it's about 6 months. I'd been in hospital with an arrhythmia but little explanation of what I had, what the prognosis was and why I was taking the medication I was on so I decided to see someone privately. It was money well spent, I had time to talk through my concerns and particularly my options. Purely by chance I saw the consultant who became my NHS consultant so I felt I had already got some sort of relationship with him, which was helpful. It didn't mean that I queue jumped but I think because he'd already seen me and my ECG I went straight on the list for an ablation, which may have meant it was offered more quickly but tbh I'm not sure about that. If you can afford to see someone privately, I'd definitely do that. I found mine by looking at the consultants at my local private hospital and choosing one that was a specialist in arrhythmia and struck lucky as he's excellent.
Thankyou so much for responding and your helpful comments. I have looked and the consultant cardiologist I could see privately is also senior cardiologist at my NHS hospital.
If you go private, be wary of charges for other than the initial consultation, such as for scans, follow-up appointments to discuss these, regular check-ups and so on. I'm still wondering about the £550 I paid for an ECG - double the average private fee. And though my private op was at an NHS hospital other than my local one, the two NHS hospitals couldn't access each other's records for, nor could the surgeon access the results of recent blood tests at the local one.
Sorry to hear about your condition. I decided to go privately at least to get a quick diagnosis on whether my condition was serious or not. My results were forwarded to my gp surgery, and the NHS offered to follow up my treatment by even getting the same cardiologist I had seen, but under the NHS system.
I was really impressed. It definitely was worth it for me. I didn't realise the NHS would work along with private hospitals and specialists.
Regarding anxiety, I think keeping your normal routine, or filling it with extra things if it's not busy, is really good. Walking, fresh air, eating and sleeping well, distracting your thoughts from the negative and remembering anxiety will cause more "flutters", and you could be needlessly worrying about something much less serious than you imagine.
Thankyou for your helpful response. I have booked a private consultation at Nuffield Health and the cardiologist I have chosen is also the senior cardiologist at my local NHS hospital too. I honestly think the anxiety and panic and waiting probably makes me more ill than whatever it may be!
I would say if your ecg has been reported on and they don't deem it urgent then you can wait for appt,they will see you if there's something urgent,it's up to you,if you get any problems you could go to a&e
After 4 years of unexplained episodes of TLoC, my wife saw a private cardiologist about 15 months ago. Clearly, he had no access to her NHS records and tests even though he was a NHS cardiologist. We agreed to pay for a 14 day heart monitor that he arranged. On the basis of results, an ILR was fitted. Four weeks later my wife had a TLoC episode, and I took her to A&E.
After a 7 hour wait, the pacing team was called and my wife was admitted immediately into ACU. She was fitted with a pacemaker 5 days later.
Would we recommend going private? The answer is ‘yes’: that said, a Chinese Wall exists between NHS and private medicine that NHS consultants working in the private sector have to be careful not to cross. It follows that you might have to pay for some tests to repeated even though previous test results are on your NHS record.
That is a good point actually. What I have found, once you go the private route - NHS assumes that you have been taken care off and deprioritise you as a result. It is important to keep the NHS channel open at all times and insist on seeing a NHS cardiologist too. I wish there was better communication and transparency between them, especially since many of the private consultants are NHS ones anyway.
Good thinking. Do you have access to any previous nhs records via the nhs app? I have used them sometimes, and some private doctors have accepted them removing the need to pay for more tests.
And as far as writing everything down you want to ask, and what you are told..Absolutely. If they recommend keeping a check on your heart, and that it's nothing serious, maybe you can ask if your follow ups could be done with the same doctor visa nhs? It doesn't hurt to ask.
Thankyou. Yes I actually had a company health assessment with full bloods and ECG showing the abnormality so have been sent the results of these and told to take with me to my appointment So that may help. Thankyou for your kind responses they have helped me as at present I am in a high state of anxiety and convinced I am going to keel over at the football this afternoon! There are a lot of positive stories on here and I figure the waiting is probably the hardest as it appears lots of these conditions are managed. I really appreciate your responses as am not googling!!!
if you do go private I would consider looking for a consultant who is on the NHS team at your chosen local hospital, checking for their specialism. I did this and mine then reported to my go afterwards asking him to refer me to his list. It wasn’t simple because despite the gp doing that the hospital gave me appt with someone else but the consultant’s private secretary gave me the contact details for his nhs secretary and she was able to sort it out.
Thankyou for your response. I have now booked a private consultation with Nuffield Health and when researching the consultants details he is also the senior cardiologist consultant at my local NHS hospital, so thinking I have at least navigated this right in the first instance.
I've now been waiting 12 months for two referrals to cardiology; one last October done by a hospital department when I was an in patient and the other in January done by my GP plus two GP letters asking for it to be expedited. Not heard a word.
I am sorry that must be incredibly stressful. What a long time to wait. How are you coping with the waiting as I think this is probably the worse part?
I just try to forget about it. I had a heart attack 6 years ago when they found a second blockage that wasn't quite bad enough to stent. Since then I've become more and more breathless leading me to worry the blockage has got worse. Lungs have been checked out and are perfect so I need a check on this other blockage. I ring the department now and then and just get told I'm on the list. Short of going privately which I can't afford, there's not much else I can do.
Thankyou, Your response has helped as I like that you can just park it and forget about it. It’s wasting far too much of my energy at present thinking about it!
Nothing else I can do. Both I and my GPs have chased it up. When my breathing is very bad I ring the gP again but like me he's frustrated that nothing's happening.
Hi, had heart attack in April (no stents but keep an eye on LAD) , then in September diagnosed with AF, GP then decided worth a referral to cardiology to check me over. Looking on NHS App the average wait time in my area is 18 weeks , however my cardio rehab nurse has advised as "non urgent" current wait is around 32 weeks. My kardia mobile says AF whenever I use it, I'm knackered probably with side effects from all the meds but I have to wait 32 weeks. So I'm also thinking about private route, don't like queue jumping even if I can afford it (but am a bit careful with my ££). The care I had from the NHS in April was great, however a 32 week wait when I'm so tired and occasional chest pain does bring on anxiety which as you say makes things worse. Good luck..
Thankyou for the response. I agree a 32 week wait is such a long time. I also agree the “queue jumping” doesn’t rest well with me but the mental health part of waiting is probably worse than anything you may get told. It appears from this forum lots of conditions can be managed. And it sounds like you had great care.
Initially I replied last night to your post, after seven hours in a day ward, that included blood tests; two of the results confirmed my suspicions that my condition was progressing, though the nurse dismissed this. My next telephone appointment with an NHS haematologist is in early December, if it's not postponed again.
My relationship with the Haematology department has not been very satisfactory and I was thinking of seeking a private opinion, though was conscious that this might be embarrassing if the private and NHS consultants worked together. I estimated that it would cost £220. I mentioned this to a Polish friend, who suggested an on-line consultation with a respected haematologist and family friend in Poland (who'd worked in England for some years, so presumably has good English). "It'll be expensive," she warned, "£60".
All I want is to discuss those two results and a couple of others, so I can better understand my situation and what to expect and hope for. I am due more NHS tests in one and two months' time
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I’m absolutely fuming! 😡 Cardiology appointment cancelled. 
