Referral to specialist centre

[Laura_Jane1983]

Hi all I'm currently on the waiting list for my 4th surgery (with a gynaecologist and bowel). Up to now my main focus has been ivf but now that it's failed and we have decided we are not having another try my focus has turned to sorting out my endometriosis. With light of the importance of having specialists do the surgery I think my best option is to go to a specialist centre.. However my go has just informed me he is unable to help me do this because it's in a different health board. Does anyone know if this is true and if it is how do i get referred to the specialist clinic?

[Laura_Jane1983]

Sorry*bowel consultant

*my gp

[Purple_Badgers]

Hi! Your GP can refer you to the specialist endo centre/BSGE centre of your choice. They don’t always know how to do this. I had to inform my GP that it’s not the usual Choose & Book system, but they go through NHS England instead. It’s in the NHS guidelines that if you have severe/treatment resistant endo you should be seen in a tertiary care centre (rather than by “ordinary” gynae, even if they gave special interest in endo). I feel for you with the IVF - we went through it and failed, have now shifted focus to trying to get me better as a priority… I’m waiting for an MRI and clinic appt at Leicester as I have DIE & already had an emergency bowel resection. Xxx

[Moonglo]

Hallo, my GP referred me to a BSGE centre in London (I live near Cambridge). I simply gave her the contact details of the centre from the BSGE website, and I got my referral letter shortly after. That was around 7 years ago, so things might be different, but worth a try?

[Moon_maiden]

HiI’m now with a hospital that’s a different CCG and wasn’t any issue at all. A slightly different route as I saw colorectal surgeon privately first, then Gynae (even though all bits gone last year) then added to NHS, no issues with GP.

Prior to that this year I’d been referred to a specialist centre with a different CCG with no issues at all, NHS from the beginning. They weren’t interested even though adhesions showed on MRI, they said no active endo!

The consultants I’m with now are very experienced, not currently a centre but the only ones who said they don’t go by scans. I’d thought about changing last year (huge regrets), but I was with a registered Endo specialist who promised colorectal and failed to deliver.

For carpal tunnel in the last few months the GP added any hospitals I wanted to choose from and gave me the booking reference and I booked with a private hospital offering NHS appointments and was two weeks earlier than the NHS hospital and you see the actual consultant not a registrar. Treatment stays within the hospital if they do it. I had the injection a week after seeing the consultant.

Your GP is either ignorant that you are entitled to go to any hospital or spinning you a line because is some other crap.

If I haven’t made any sense, which could be likely 🤦‍♀️😂, please ask anything 🙂

[Lindle]

Are you in England or one of the devolved UK countries such as Scotland. We don't tend to refer to health boards in England. If you are in Scotland for example then you can't choose where to go as is the case in England but you do still have a right to be treated at a specialist centre if you have confirmed severe endo. How easy this will be is likely to depend on what health board you are under and which centre covers it. The Edinburgh centre referral process can be problematic and they do insist on referral by a consultant.