Private consultation at spire

[princessk09]

Has anyone been to spire? My parents are sick of waiting around on the nhs for answers about my painful periods etc and just being pushed into different hormone pills.

Anyone know how much a consultation costs there?

[SufferingSilently9]

Hi!

I highly recommend giving spire a call and booking appointment, for me, it was amazing to have a doctor who is a specialist in gynocological issues and was able to provide alternate treatments and diagnosis a lot faster than my doctors.

I recently visited a consultant at Spire (got seen in 2 days compared to being stuck on a long nhs list) and it was great! My consultant was finishing my sentences and listened to everything I had told my doctor and was quickly able to give me options for treatment and diagnosis. I paid £150 for an appointment which lasted 45 mins and he was then able to get me an appointment for his NHS practice (a lot faster than through my doctor) so that i wouldnt have to pay for an Ultrasound via spire and wouldn't have to wait any longer.

It put me at ease after years of trying to get a diagnosis and treatment. I was placed on hormonal pills to stop my periods and so far it's reduced my pain and I've had no bleeding which has amazed me.

Hope this helps

[princessk09 in reply to SufferingSilently9]

I don’t want to take any more pills as I suffer badly with the side effects.

I’m not sure if I have endometriosis but it’s just the signs are there. At the nhs gynae, I was in severe pain during the pelvic exam and she said it was normal. I was nearly crying

[SufferingSilently9 in reply to princessk09]

I was offered other options than my pills (currently Provera) but chose that because it was the easiest option to try first for me as my doctors were also saying it was normal - spire doctor confirmed it's not - and I had not tried alternate hormone treatments.

I would ring and talk to someone at spire and just see what they can offer you as there are lots of options available, I was told. They can do internal ultrasounds (expensive at Spire but can ask for an emergency referal) to confirm the diagnosis and then could provide a laparoscopy to remove some of the cause to reduce pain if it's needed.

[princessk09 in reply to SufferingSilently9]

I was given Provera but refuse to take it due to some side effects it can cause.

I don’t have heavy periods, it’s just they are so painful, I can’t get out of bed and it’s starting to affect my career as an athlete

[AllWeNeedIsluv in reply to princessk09]

Speak to them and ask for an exploratory laproscapy the gynae will give you a defo price make sure you ask for a fixed price it can be anything from 2.500 to 5.000 I think it depends on where your going give them a ring you'll get better answers that way xxx

[AllWeNeedIsluv in reply to AllWeNeedIsluv]

Diagnostic lap I meant xxx

[SufferingSilently9 in reply to AllWeNeedIsluv]

Spire tries other treatments first as laparoscopy can be risky and very expensive - even if requested, they would ask for ultrasounds etc first to ensure that there is a certain issue.

[princessk09 in reply to SufferingSilently9]

My ultrasound is clear but I haven’t had an Internal one yet

[AllWeNeedIsluv in reply to SufferingSilently9]

I already had all that done prior plus had my lap and confirmed endo. So makes sense they would do that I was going for operative xx

[Hidden]

I had an appointment at the spire, it was £150 and worth it as I got put onto that consultants NHS list - it still has meant an 18 week wait for the lap, but if I had have done NHS the full route it would have been approx. a year before I got to that point. £150 well spent. I can't afford the lap privately, it is around £5k.

[princessk09 in reply to Hidden]

Yeah, what did they do at spire? Like exams or questions did they ask you?

[Hidden in reply to princessk09]

It was a consultation, I had already been under NHS care for a while and had had MRI, ultrasound scans, colonoscopy, etc and there had been a large endometrioma picked up on two of the scans but the consultant I was under wasn't very professional and had ignored a few things so I wanted a second opinion. I took my GP notes and scan reports along to the spire and had a 45 minute consultation, no examinations as such other than she felt my abdomen (my cyst is massive and I am skinny so you can feel it which is pretty gross!!). She then said she could refer me for the lap with my existing NHS consultant, which I didn't want, or go with her on her NHS list, which is what I have done and should get the op late feb. It has still been a very very long process though, well over 18 months to get to this point.

[princessk09 in reply to Hidden]

Yeah I don’t want another pelvic exam as it was so painful, when they feel around inside (sorry I don’t know to word it). Literally I was close to crying and was in pain for a few days after with stomach cramps

[Hidden in reply to princessk09]

No, I didn't have to have anything like that. In fact, I have had very few internal examinations - my ultrasound had to be internal, and apart from that my GP has done one once. I guess it depends which stage you are at with it all? Did they see anything when they did the examination? That sounds horrible, bless you

[princessk09 in reply to Hidden]

No she said it was normal I was in pain and stuff

[Hidden in reply to princessk09]

All I am thinking is that if they didn't see anything, then you probably wouldn't have to have another at another consultation. You can't see endo via anything other than a lap or particularly good ultrasound, so I would make the appointment for a private consultation and spend some time with somebody who is prepared to listen and help good luck

[SufferingSilently9]

Have you tried going to A&E and explaining to them your issue when you're next in a particularly in bad pain and see if they can get you seen by an emergency gynocologist? I was told by my spire doctor that if my pain got worse over Christmas that that would be a good option.

[princessk09 in reply to SufferingSilently9]

Nah, I’m sick of seeing nhs gynaes like I tell them important info and it goes straight over their heads and isn’t taken into account

[C2691]

Hello, when my GP finally agreed I should see a gynaecologist I chose to go privately at spire. I phoned them up and got an appointment for the following evening. The consultation cost £200. I wasn’t in there very long, it felt like 10 mins although I think it was a 45 Min slot but I didn’t feel rushed. He examined my chest and back and said it’s likely I had polycystic ovaries but this was to be confirmed with blood tests. He said there was no point doing internal exam there and then, to add to my discomfort, he wouldn’t have been able to see the cause of my problems there and then. I was relieved about this as I thought I would have to and I also have a lot of pain.

He told me I needed a hysteroscopy and laparoscopy. I knew I wouldn’t be able to have these done privately but as I had been able to choose the consultant, I chose one who also worked at the NHS hospital I wanted my treatment at.

I then got him to refer me back to NHS and had to have another consultation to go through his notes from spire with one of the registrars at the NHS hospital, I think just to get me on the system and take all my details because it was another hospital, before they booked my surgery date.

My private consultation was September 19th and had the surgery on NHS 5th December. They were able to offer me a date in November for surgery with a different consultant but I wanted to stick with the one I’d seen at spire so I opted to wait for the December date.

I think if I’d have waited to have the consultation on NHS I’d still be waiting now. The waiting time was about 16 weeks just to see gynaecologist on NHS and I knew I couldn’t wait that long.

I’d recommend going to spire if possible even just for your initial consultation just with the chance it might speed things along for you. It definitely did for me. X

[princessk09 in reply to C2691]

Yeah I’ve been go and back forth since July on the nhs and have gotten no where so might as well try spire

[Starry]

My treatment has been with a BSGE surgeon at a Spire Hospital and I would highly recommend it . I would say my care there has been nothing but exemplary throughout and I have been there an awful lot!

I went to a BMI just once and had a bad experience with a very bad surgeon.

I think the fee for a consultation varies by surgeon, but it is the surgery that is the expensive part as hosptial facilities, bloods and anaesthisia is involved as well as Consultant time. Be sure to pick a bsge accredited person.

At BMI i was charged £136 by a general consult. At Spire i was charged £ 144 for a follow up by my BSGE consult. I can't find my bill for the first one but this gives you a uk non london ballpark.

[tinkerbell971]

I got the option through choose and book from my gp to see a consultant in a nhs hospital or spire . I chose spire because I knew how much quicker it was going to be. I had my initial appointment about 2 weeks after being referred, was put on antibiotics for 2 weeks to see if it was any infection, another appointment 4 weeks after my initial consultation where I was told he would operate. Got an appointment for my op 4 weeks after that so all in all I was diagnosed about 8/10 weeks after being referred.

Can you not ask your gp if they will refer you to an nhs consultant who practices in spire?

[princessk09 in reply to tinkerbell971]

I’m not sure tbf but i don’t mind paying to see a specialist

[tinkerbell971 in reply to princessk09]

You should ask your gp first whether they would because it would save you a lot of money x

[princessk09 in reply to tinkerbell971]

I’ll be waiting a month to see my gp and I can’t wait that long x