Hi has anyone gone private to get a diagnosis?

[Maxmoobear]

I am very lucky that my job comes with private health care. I’ve been robbed off for months by the NHS, but spoke to a private GP who wasn’t happy with things so I got an appointment with a private hospital within 4 weeks. I’m not what to expect as a lot of the information online is the NHS process? Will it be the same?

[Maxmoobear]

Fobbed not robbed

[pinkelephant1234]

Hi Maxmoobear. I hope you’re feeling ok 😊 I was fobbed off by the NHS for 14 years. Eventually got to the point I couldn’t even walk, and they told me I had a tight hip and needed to do stretches! I decided to go private and was lucky to get an appointment that same week.

The first appointment was a consultation - we chatted through my symptoms, made a plan of action and I was prescribed Diclofenac for pain relief. I was referred for an urgent ultrasound which I had two days later, followed straight away by another consultation to get the results (think I waited about 15 mins in reception in between appointments). The ultrasound showed large, blood filled cysts on my ovaries and endo everywhere (stage 4). I’d heard endo doesn’t normally show up on an ultrasound, but o was told they can spot it these days if it’s quite progressed with the top of the range machines and very experienced ultra-sound technicians (I think they tend to have more modern machines in private hospitals, but that’s probably not always the case). We chatted through a plan of action - they prescribed Synarel and Livial to get me through a couple of months pain free (I’m getting married and couldn’t walk down the aisle in the amount of pain I was in), and am going back straight after my wedding to discuss lap and IVF (recommended ASAP if we want to have kids).

The process was amazing after years of struggle and it felt so good for my health to be taken seriously. I feel incredibly lucky that I had the option to go private and horrified that people can struggle for so long and still not be taken seriously by some doctors (don’t get me wrong, love the NHS but personally I didn’t have the best experiences).

Don’t know how that compares to the NHS process but that’s my experience anyway! Good luck - hope you get the answers you need!! X

[Maxmoobear in reply to pinkelephant1234]

Yea the private GP wantted me in sooner but I can cope 25 days out of 28 so didn’t want my job to suffer in needed so the 4 weeks was my choice really as it was when I was off work and they were free. I was shocked the GP helped so much as I hand on heart expected to have to fight so im hoping the specialist is the same. I think private have longer appointments so to get to know you

[JulesUK]

Similar to your other reply my experience with nhs was pretty awful and I do not know where I’d be now or how my life would have turned out if I hadn’t had private health through my job (sadly no longer). Usually your first appointment they will take the time to ask you about your symptoms, history etc and take action from there depending on what investigation is required. Every time I needed to see someone it happened pretty quickly, usually within a week but I suppose with Covid times are a bit longer. Operations were scheduled within a similar time frame. I had the same doctor for years which helped as she understood my case and performed my ops. Follow up appointments always happened and I was listened to. I also knew I could call for advice if I had any concerns. My recommendation is use it fully, it’s a benefit you are entitled to and will make your journey so much smoother, quicker and less stressful.

[Maxmoobear in reply to JulesUK]

100% our private health care is amazing and listening to wait times etc I feel very lucky to have that option and almost a little guilty!

[Nbubz]

Don’t feel guilty for going private at all! You could always look at it as freeing up some time in the NHS for people who aren’t as fortunate! I went private and it was the best decision I’ve made. I really rate the NHS but they don’t have the same amount of time to listen to you and are under different pressures. Do what is right for you!

[Moon_maiden]

I ended up seeing the consultant privately, best thing I did. He was great and suspected endo. I could either add to his NHS list or private. You are lucky that you’ll be able to do all this privately, use it to your advantage, much easier. Don’t feel bad at all about it. Write notes about symptoms, pain when better or worse. Talk to them about what’s best for pain relief. Possibly still a wait even privately for op if consultant suggests that route, you can bring it up if they don’t. The consultant I saw said it’s the only way to really confirm. He had a lot of experience with Endo but not the main Endo specialist as such.

There is some really good info on consultations on the Endo UK site and symptom diary.

Good luck, let us know how you get on 🙂