Bob Mortimer

[welsh12]

Bob has brought Rheumatoid Arthritis into the conversation with the Christmas special I knew he had health issues but didn't know Arthritis until he mentioned on the programme. I read his autobiography which is good poignant and funny. Arthritis is not mentioned. He says diagnosed in 20s but he was "ok" from 30s until he had Shingles in his 60s last year. Presume he was in remission then.

[helixhelix]

my rheumy nurse let slip that he was at the same hospital as I was.

[rmros in reply to helixhelix]

That's appalling.

[helixhelix in reply to rmros]

I was a bit shocked too! Didn’t mention name but just a description that pointed to him.

[welsh12 in reply to helixhelix]

I said to my consultant I see Kirsty young has RA and she has a private consultant passing the time of day. He barked at me no different treatment to the NHS bet he does private though. Oddly enough he happens to be from my home town its a small town unusually don't know his family ha. He raised this.

[helixhelix in reply to welsh12]

I imagine all the top consultants have an NHS hat in the drawer for when they need it. Can’t prescribe biologics without, and can’t see anyone wanted to pay 1k a month…

[AgedCrone in reply to helixhelix]

All UK Private Medical Insurance companies require that any doctor you want to see is registered with the NHS,& even if you self pay the Private Hospital or Doctor need your NHS number these days. At least that way, you know the person you see is a qualified clinician,not just somebody you find online.

[helixhelix in reply to AgedCrone]

Yes they have to be registered with the BMC and have a number, but I think they need to “hold”a hospital post to be able to prescribe biologics. Which doesn’t necessarily mean they do any work in the hospital just have the affiliation, although of course a lot of them do one clinic a week or similar.

[AgedCrone in reply to helixhelix]

A NHS Consultant has a contract to work X number of hours for the areas he works in. These hours are fixed,& he has to fit his Private Practice appointments around his NHS work…not the other way around.

Yes Consultants can only prescribe Biologic drugs in their NHS clinics……under NICE Regulations he then has to see those patients in a NHS Clinic Once every 12 months….for the rest of the year he can treat them Privately for which the patient pays.That is one reason companies have PMI for their employees…less time off to be seen during work hours .When I was still working I often saw my Rheumy Privately at 7am before work. You will find you are often offered a Private appointment during hours when the NHS does not have clinics.

To Register as a Dr to be used by PMI’s a Dr needs a GMC Registration,& have,or have held an NHS Consultant position…it gets very complicated & PMI’s insist on these doctors holding all the correct Private indemnity insurance.

As far as I have seen over the last many,many years PMI is a very useful perk to have/ask for when job hunting.

[MarmiteLover1 in reply to helixhelix]

I read his autobiography and was amazed to find no mention of his RA as it would have presumably potentially held him back from success.

[medway-lady]

He has mentioned it before though, I didn't think he looked well but he described Shingles well. Crikey that hurt even after the bout after my jabs last year. I still have some residual ache over the area it's got me 3 times. I'd like to know if he got remission through medications and isn't Lady Ga Ga looking great with it this week at some awards ceremony on the news yesterday.

[Jackie1947]

He's mentioned RA previously as I love watching their programme. The Shingles sadly reacted the RA to flare and he's still suffering with nerve problems in his lower body due to Shingles. I know Shingles left me with painful neuralgia in the face.

[welsh12 in reply to Jackie1947]

Yes Shingles is awful

[SwimmerBTC]

I shall try to find it on iPlayer as it sounds interesting. Thanks welsh12 for alerting me!

[Paula-C]

From what I remember he said he woke up one morning and couldn't move, he was in his 20's at the time. It then just disappeared several years later but it's now come back. He's on steroids and he's put weight on because of them. He's recently had shingles, last series of the fishing programme he was absent for one episode and Lee Mack appeared in it instead of him. Following episode when he'd recovered he said that shingles had done nerve damage to his leg. You could tell he had mobility issues when he walked. He's also got testicular vasculitis, never knew RA could do that, it's very rare though for it to happen. I wish he'd talk more about RA on the programme to educate people that it's not just arthritis. We've watched every episode of all the series and they talk about health issues, it's only in this last series that he's mentioned his RA.

Link to article about him.

express.co.uk/life-style/he...

[welsh12 in reply to Paula-C]

Yes I agree with you as he talks so much about his health

[Cat_mam]

I adore Bob, he's so funny, has me in stitches just with his smile. Just shows you can't ever judge a book....