Can i pay for the initial consultation privately to avoid a 12 week nhs wait?

[Need_Sunshine88]

Hi, I'm new to this so apologies if I don't have all the correct terminology/short hand yet!

My husband and I have been TTC for about a year and a half now without success. We went to the GP and was advised to have a semen analysis which came back as quite low. We were told to come back again after 2 months if still unsucessful, which we did and a second semen analysis again showed a low count.

The GP referred us to a fertility clinic and in the mean time I underwent various blood tests to rule anything out and they all came back good with no further action required.

The fertility clinic we've been referred to has said its an 8-10 week wait time for the initial consultation (our date is the 5th Jan which is actually 12 weeks!), however it says its £200 to get a private consultation within 2 weeks. As we already kind of know the cause of infertility, are we able to pay £200 for the private consultations to get the ball rolling and then once we've been assessed and the right course of action decided, continue on the NHS?

I hope that all made sense! Thanks!

[MommaBear16]

Hi there - I would think that you would still need to have an NHS consultation but the best thing to do is give them a ring and ask, I'm sure they will be able to advise you. Wishing you lots of luck for your cycle, come back and keep us up to date x x x

[Need_Sunshine88 in reply to MommaBear16]

Thank you for such a quick response I've been trying to get hold of them but they just don't answer the phone or call me back if I leave a message. I've emailed too so hopefully they'll get back to me soon! X

[Se99]

Hi, your story sounds similar to mine! I guess every clinic is different but I paid for a private consult at my Nhs clinic, we didnt need the NHS consult after and were able to get all our paperwork in order and some of the tests done early to speed things along. I took copies of all our semen results so we didn't need them doing again. Whilst there face to face you could try asking for cancellations or just earlier appointments but even if you don't get anywhere things should be quicker down the line.

For me I just felt better doing something and getting my questions answered sooner!

Good luck with everything, great first step forward x

[Need_Sunshine88 in reply to Se99]

Thank you! We've already done the seman analysis x2 and I did a day 21 blood test and another one (can't remember what it was. It it tested for all sorts!) and they all came back fine. I just want to be able to speed things up and get in the 'system' as such and get the ball rolling! Thanks for your help! Gives me hope that I might be able to get things moving xx

[Lotbot]

I could be totally wrong but i thought I heard someone (don't know where or who) say that the nhs didn't like h doing it as if uve got money to go private go private? I could be wrong thou x

[Need_Sunshine88 in reply to Lotbot]

I heard the same thing which worries me. I've been trying to contact the clinic but they just don't answer or call me back hence this feed thanks for your comment x

[Mrsjj]

A lot of the consultants themselves do private and NHS so it shouldn't matter. I have used both on my journey and saved myself months waiting for a minor op. Test results are test results - do what you need to do to speed up this long process. Good luck xx

[Need_Sunshine88 in reply to Mrsjj]

Thank you. Like Lotbot said above, I heard somewhere that once you picked private, the NHS got funny and you sort of ruined your chances, so glad to hear that isn't the case!! xx

[Tigerlily01]

Hiya yes we paid £120 for a review consultation as we didn't want to wait for the NHS and then we still got funding I'm now mid cycle if we had of waited we wouldn't have had our consultation till end October good luck! Xxx

[Need_Sunshine88 in reply to Tigerlily01]

Thank you! That's so good to know. Good luck with everything x

[Sjt82]

Hi, I did same as se99, paid for private consult at same nhs hospital as I was already attending, it was even with same doc!! I would only just have had that consultation now, but instead my test for hopefully bfp is monday! Defo worth it if you have the money. Good luck xx

[Need_Sunshine88 in reply to Sjt82]

Thank you! So once you did your private consultation, could you continue on nhs with treatment?

[Sjt82 in reply to Need_Sunshine88]

Yes, it was the doc I was seeing who suggested it, my next appointment after that was to see nurse about all needles and my schedule!

[Need_Sunshine88 in reply to Sjt82]

Fab thanks so much! Fingers crossed for you for Monday! xx

[DianeArnold Partner Nurse Fertility Network UK in reply to Need_Sunshine88]

Hi Need_Sunshine88. To be quite honest, I think I would get as much out of the NHS as you can as regards to tests and investigations. You can always get copies of any results, as you are allowed to under the Patients' Charter, then you have your own copies to take with you, should you proceed privately at any time. As some of the others have said, always check with your local CCG (Clinical Commissioning Group) about "mixing the two. I wish you HUGE luck with it all. Diane

[ardnek]

Hi sorry for the late reply. We went private to speed things along and was told that we had to go down donar conception route and no point looking into anything else.

Our NHS appointment actually came through quicker than expected and the doctor we got was so helpful and put us through a different route to investigate a bit more and to definitely see if donar is the end of the line.

If you can I would advise going to both. By booking the private apps I felt like I was taking some sort of control with the whole situation but I'm so glad we went to the NHS app as that doctor gave us more options

[Hopeful1982]

Hello, we went to a private clinic whilst waiting on our NHS appointment to come through. I had some further blood tests done and I also had an HSG to check my Fallopian tubes were patent (I.e. No blockages) which was a separate charge. When our NHS appointment finally came through we didn't need to have these tests redone and were able to progress straight to IVF so it did speed things up for us in the long run.

Best of luck x