My thread of two months ago about a delayed private consultation was not that well received (healthunlocked.com/bhf/post..., but perhaps acts as a prologue to this one.
Eventually I had a private consultation that was very thorough. Luckily I'd received the results of some NHS blood tests two days earlier, so was spared the cost of private ones, but did fork out £285 for an urine test for something very nasty, which seems very similar to the possible nastiness the NHS tested for last year (the result was negative).
The consultant was surprised that I'd had an NHS iron infusion last year. In his two-page letter to my GP he wrote "I am a little bit unclear as to what basis the iron infusion [was given]".
He used to work at the local NHS Haematology Department and copied the letter to the NHS head haematologist (tactfully it referred to my being in "the capable hands of my colleagues").
Which brings me to the point of this thread. Has anyone had experience of being treated by both private and NHS consultants at the same time? And do the NHS doctors mind? I have a follow-up private appointment on February 3 and a telephone NHS appointment (preceded by a range of blood tests in May). I've also just worn an NHS Holter for 48 hours and am to have another ECG scan at the local hospital on February 11.
Both sets of doctors seem to think that haemolysis related to my replaced heart valve is "a significant possibility" for my fatigue, especially as I have "an element of prosthetic valve regurgitation". My surgeon noted this as "mild", with a velocity across the new valve of 2.3m/s.
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Many years ago I went private but then saw the same consultant under NHS. I believe some consultants have a private practice as well as working for the NHS. I'm sure that they would let you know if they were not happy. At the end of the day surely they just want to treat people. 🤗
They won’t mind it’s patient choice but our hospital doesn’t have private but after working for the NHS for the past 11 years private is not really needed because if there is a problem on any test then they are seen sooner plus every referral is triaged and if there is any clinical need to be seen sooner they will have a sooner appointment. Waste of money
With NHS Cardiology disagreeing with NHS Haematology and the latter twice postponing appointments, and with three visits last year to A & E (two by ambulance) during the delays, I hope I may be forgiven for wanting answers sooner than later! The last time I spoke with an NHS haematologist, he said he wanted to see me in three months' time; when the appointment letter arrived it was for a consultation in six months' time. The one thing that everyone is agreed on is that my symptoms are "puzzling".
Some people would prefer to see a consultant about a condition/symptoms that effect their lives massively on a daily basis next week as opposed to 8 months from now on the NHS. I recall a story about a man who had IPF, a terminal lung condition. He was given an appointment to see a respiratory consultant about it after it was discovered on CT scan, that appointment was for 8 months later. He died of complications of IPF before the appoitntment. I can understand people paying money to avoid a similar fate. Odd and tone deaf comment with the state of the NHS being what it is, and anecdotes like the one I just gave becoming more and more frequent.
I respectfully disagree. My wife had 4 years of TLoC episodes where her heart stopped for periods of between 20 and 40 seconds. After every episode, her GP would run an ECG and find nothing amiss - as was the case with 24 and 72 hour holter monitors. A cardiology check revealed that there was nothing structurally wrong with her heart apart from ectopic beats and Stage 1 heart block.
On the advice of a GP, we decided to seek out the advice of a private arrhythmia specialist. We paid to have a 14 day holter monitor fitted that revealed paroxysmal (unusual presentation) AF. We were told that the next stage was an ILR which was fitted by the NHS after a referral. My wife was fitted with a 2 lead pacemaker a month later after experiencing 2 prolonged TLoC episodes whilst resting and asleep.
Waste of money? I think not. I am sure that the NHS would have got there in the end but it ignores the cost of repeated visits to the system, and the stress of not having a diagnosis.
FWiW, there was an interesting article in the weekend newspapers. The writer experienced what he thought was acute indigestion. He called his GP and got a same day appointment. After examination, the GP referred him to a private cardiologist who saw him the next day. An immediate scan revealed the need for a stent which was fitted the following day. All done in a country that has a State and insurance based healthcare system about 22 miles from Dover. The writer’s GP subsequently said that a blockage in the particular vessel was commonly known as the ‘widow maker’.
To get back on topic. The NHS has to find a better way of working with the private sector. Access to patient’s notes is but one example. Why should the NHS repeat a test that has been carried out in a private hospital just because it cannot access the private results - and vice versa? We all the love the NHS but it cannot continue in its present form. For example, the NHS is in the bottom tier of health systems for scanner numbers and beds/per capita in the World.
Thank you for posting about this symptom. I've reminded my wife to get her "indigestion" checked. My 90% blockage certainly felt like mild indigestion too.
I wonder if it is worth a separate post with a link to the newspaper article to start a discussion on potential symptoms?
I would post a link if I could without breaking copyright. The article ‘Can France Save the NHS’ is behind a paywall in The Times.
My 80 year old brother has just reminded me that he went to see his GP about indigestion and he ended up getting a stent fitted at The Harefield Hospital.
I had a little trouble getting my records transferred from the NHS hospital where I had my TAVI to my local one where I wanted the recommended annual checks. Both are in the same health authority. (I've just read the article to which you refer, in the Sunday Times colour supplement.)
You may have misunderstood. A private consultant cannot access NHS patient records and vice versa. He/she can apprise a GP of a test result (eg; 14 day holter monitor) with a recommendation for further treatment via the NHS.
I have had second opinions from medics privately and on the nhs. Some dont seem happy about it others have been fine. Your body and you need to get the best advice and treatment. It can cause confusion sometimes or confirm diagnosis on other occasions, but thats what second opinions are for to ensure you are getting the best outcomes. Best wishes.
Following my HA in December, I was informed this week about a possible valve issue and would need a referral. My GP's advice was to stay with the NHS, as they have all my records, BUT to run my private health insurance (via my employer) in parallel and as a back-up - NHS referrals can take time. I appreciate that it's triaged based on need but the anxiety it causes to wait for NHS appointments can be anxiety inducing. Whether I would think differently if I was paying from my savings, I don't know but, for peace of mind, I'm happy to do both. Hope that helps.
Collating NHS and private records can be a problem. In December 2023 I saw a private gastroenterologist at the same hospital as the haematologist and had some comprehensive blood tests, which I added to a spreadsheet I'd started of NHS ones (with more than 50 different tests noted and anything out-of-range noted in red). I copied the spreadsheet to the private haematologist beforehand.
All my latest NHS blood-test results appeared on my hospital digital record, but not all did on my GP's records - though she had commissioned the tests.
As for paying, post-TAVI I was hoping for five more years of very active physical life before giving in to some common infirmities of old age. Eighteen months have now passed, and though I have good periods there are some very bad ones, hence my trips to A & E. I have no very close relatives and with inheritance tax at 40%, I might as well spend my money on myself. As a friend reminded me last week, "there are no pockets in a shroud", something I silently said several times in his declining months to my father, who was VERY careful with his money!
Last year, my wife experienced 2 or 3 incidents where her blood presssure fell dramatically and the GP referred her to a cardiologist. At our local hospital, it takes 6 months before you get an appointment followed by another 6 months before being given any treatment. We knew that the NHS permits you to go anywhere in the country and publishes waiting times at hospitals throughout the country. The shortest waiting times we could find were about 4 hours from where we live but in a part of the country where we have relatives and friends. We found the names of cardiologists at the relevant hospital all of whom had private practices and there was one who had a particular interest in syncope so we arranged to see him privately within a few days and at a relatively modest cost. At the consultation, he agreed to add her to his NHS list and within a couple of weeks she had an ILR and is now being monitored remotely before the Consultant advises whether further treatment is needed. Yes, we played the system and we were fortunate that we had the money to pay for an initial consultation and places to stay in the area, but the consultant was very happy to deal with my wife initially privately and then under the NHS and she has not had all the stress involved in a long wait at our local hospital.
Hubby had HA with HF, needed another test doing and was told by NHS its a 45 week wait. For a heart health test (can't remember which one as he has had so many) we could not believe it. It was the consultant himself who said that if it is within our means, we should go private for it. We did this and my hubby had it 2 weeks later. So No, we have not had a problem with both private and NHS at all.
I am treated both privately and by the NHS, and luckily the 2 consultants work together in the same NHS hospital, so they can speak to each other.
I’m not sure it would work as well if they did not work in the same hospital, as they wouldn’t be able to speak ad hoc or have full access to my notes and test results.
They always copy each other in on letters, but this relies on them receiving and reading the letters of which I’m sure they receive hundreds. I also send any test results to their secretaries to add them to my notes, but this can be difficult. I had an MRI privately and it was extremely difficult to get the images sent to my NHS consultant.
my wife after a nhs car park scan was asked to attend her gp. He told her she had a heart murmur. Arranged a NHS cardiologist.The NHS cardiologist was a 6 week wait so she went private.
attended 3 Days later and told she had a bicuspid aortic valve with severe stenosis, later to be told it was critical, she was passed back to the NHS and within 5 weeks was operated on in a Spire hospital, paid by the NHS, because there was no theatre time in the local hospital.Now recovering at home.
For her the system worked and we are most grateful for both the NHS and Spire for what they have done.
Likewise when my BAV became severe I was operated on at a Spire hospital courtesy of the NHS complete with door to door ambulance car/paramedic transport each way for the 250 mile journey.
The private consultants I have seen have by and large been lappy to mix with their NHS colleagues.
I am seen twice a year or so by a clinic at one of the main tertiary heart hospitals on the NHS.
It started by me asking my GP for a second opinion, and asking for one of the best cardiologists in the country. I paid for the appt, and it was well worth the money. All subsequent appointments and tests (holter, stress echo etc.) have been done at this hospital on the NHS. I normally have a phone call with one of the consultant's registrars. I have on occasion paid to see the main man.
I have to say that this seems a good way to get treatment. The system at this hospital seems to work far better than the one at my local hospital.
The tests are better, and if I want to I can pay for quicker service.
I just wish /I lived closer, and this was my local hospital.
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Heart NHS or private?
