Private or nhs advanced lap?

[Annabelannabel]

Is it really worth the nhs wait? Pros and cons? Everyone's experiences? If I go private will I lose my referral at specialist endo clinic I've fought for so long for? I work very physically with severe endo and just been told my surgery won't be till next year now. 🙃

[Lindle]

I'm not sure what you mean by if you go private will you lose your referral at the specialist endo clinic. If you have surgery at an equivalent private endo centre then you'd have had surgery then so you wouldn't need referral to the NHS centre any more. But excision at a private centre for severe endo is typically 10K plus.

[Annabelannabel in reply to Lindle]

I believe I'll still need care as they cannot remove all of my endo because of where its positioned sorry I didn't put a lot of context behind my situation. I just wondered if I got the surgery privately if I'd lose my nhs referral. And blimey that's a lot of money don't think I could do that I know starting costs are 4k. Thank you for your reply x

[Lindle in reply to Annabelannabel]

I'm still not really sure what you mean. On the NHS in England it is a legal requirement that severe endo is only treated in a specialist endo centre by a multidisciplinary team of two advanced lap surgeons plus colorectal and/urology as required. This isn't something a private surgeon not working in such a centre can have a go at as it were, passing you over to an expert team to finish off. This would be against regulations as surgeons in private care must work to the same standards that would apply on the NHS. You would be put at enormous risk if anyone was to do this.

[Annabelannabel in reply to Lindle]

I would be asking the surgeons under the NHS If they do it privately to jump the queue. You're totally right and that's exactly what has happened with my case

[Endosufferer1 in reply to Annabelannabel]

Where is your endo positioned? If it's widespread, it's around14k that you'd need to pay.

[Annabelannabel in reply to Endosufferer1]

Back of my womb, bowel, uteral sacral ligaments, invasive rectal disease. Can't believe how much it costs!

[Endosufferer1 in reply to Annabelannabel]

Did they check for your thorax and appendix?

[Annabelannabel in reply to Endosufferer1]

I don't think so I haven't had a lap yet I was diagnosed via mri x

[AllthatGlitters]

I went private for my lap which cost me £4,500 for the pre-assessment and consultation as well as a night in hospital and follow up.

I have since paid for a private consultation which was £200 and then I asked to be put onto the NHS waiting list for surgery.

If you call Bupa they can give you a rough price over the phone x

[Annabelannabel in reply to AllthatGlitters]

I hope you don't have to wait long for surgery x

[AllthatGlitters in reply to Annabelannabel]

Sorry I forgot to say my lap was in 2019 and had surgeries since with the NHS.

[Annabelannabel in reply to AllthatGlitters]

Did you have to wait long for your first lap?

[AllthatGlitters in reply to Annabelannabel]

no as I got my consultation 2 weeks after my GP referred me then a call around 3 weeks after to say come in for your procedure. It’s all very quick although now I think more people are going private so maybe more of a wait? X

[Annabelannabel in reply to AllthatGlitters]

That's so good. And yeah the waits are so bad I was told I needed surgery in October and now I was told to chase up the date this week because I was close to getting it and they refused me hormonal treatment because of this. When I rang they said it won't be till next year now. I said to the specialist nurse I cant wait that long in my current job role I'll lose my job. Then I demanded they give me further treatment till then and asked my gp to write a letter to bump up priority on the waiting list. Ideally I need it done this year if I want to keep my job. X

[AllthatGlitters in reply to Annabelannabel]

fingers crossed you get it done this year, it’s so bad having to wait. I have been there and know how it affects you. I waited a year before I decided to go private, I just couldn’t tolerate my symptoms and also the mental impact it was having on me. I lost my job too. Horrendous time x

[TashaBarry]

hey, I also was very frustrated with the nhs waiting list so I looked into doing it private. My case was very complicated as I had severe endo in my bowels, ureter and a really large cyst so had to have urology and bowel surgeon as well as gynaecologist. Because of the complicity my total costs went up to 28k as I had to stay 6 stays in hospital. This was all outlined to me in my consultation so it wasnt a surprise but it was ‘worst case scenario’ figure. So just a warning costs can seriously add up if you’re self funding. However, I’m so glad I went with private specialists and not the nhs because they were so efficient and got pretty much all of the endo out. The nhs didn’t even seem concerned that I would need multidisciplinary action. As a result I have a catheter and stoma for a temporary amount of time but honestly so worth it, so scary to think what could have happened if I’d left it longer especially as I had heard nothing in the past year being on nhs waitlist.

[Endowarrior1807]

hey

Like someone else mentioned below, have the surgery done privately (if you can) with a doctor who also works for the NHS in the specialist centre

Also, even if you don’t do this, you still have the right to your NHS referral. Going privately won’t get rid of your referral to the specialist centre

[BloomingMarvellous]

I get your concern. The loss of place only applies if you sign up on two NHS locations not a combination of NHS and private.

[CLD30]

I went private for a consultation £175.00, £500 for imagining they said i have adenymiosis , endo and a 4 cm fibroid this was at Spire. My surgeon put me on his NHS wait list October 2022 as i didnt have 8k to go private. Had my pre op Thursday 25.05.23 they said my lap will be in the next 3 months. Hope that helps.