private....

[beaker]

notice over the years how far apart my appointment have become ? doctors over work? or to few doctors or sudden rush of people with RA?.. yet a friend of mine thru their work when private and got to see the same doctor as l see within 2 days of seeing their gp....dont blame them l'd go private if l could, to see same doctor as me and others is a sham putting money before nhs patients,,,

[sylvi]

I had to go private to see specialist for my knee this time and yes i could see him the next day. Its a shame how it works. I went private to get one of my x-rays,but i couldn't afford the other x-ray as it was nearly £600, its so stupid. We still pay for it with our taxes.

sylvi.

[Hidden in reply to sylvi]

God sylvi i didn't know that about your xray how ridiculous about the xray.

[LavendarLady in reply to sylvi]

Hi Sylvi, I think you were being ripped off with that x - ray. Mine only cost £150 at our private hospital. I think some hospitals do put up their prices because they think an insurance company is paying for it!

LavendarLady x

[sylvi in reply to LavendarLady]

Happily our health scheme did pay for it,thats why i couldn't afford the nuclear one private.

sylvi.xx

[Hidden]

i agree Beaker its a total mess. I waited for ages to see the consultant and my gp said if i could afford to go private i would get to see one much quicker. Obviously i couldn't.

[heatherp]

I know the whole system is bad - as I often say I am very fortunate to have BUPA through work and that got me a consultant visit really quickly. However I was also lucky that he was upfront with me and suggested that I had all tests done on the NHS as doing them privately would have cost me more than my annual BUPA outpatient allowance (that's just the blood tests and xrays to get a diagnosis)! So I only use it for my visits with him and do all monitoring tests through NHS, and even then BUPA say that as soon as my RA is seen to be 'under control' they won't cover visits anymore!

[sylvi]

We tried to get a new cover as hubby is retiring, and we can't get cover due to my ra. The company we spoke to said that as ra is an ongoing condition they won't cover me for that,so we are staying with the company that my hubby pays into through work.

We thought that if we changed to one that was more inclusive it would be better for us,but it turns out we are just as well off with this one we are with now.

Mads, i did pay to have a full leg x-ray to save time. That cost us £235.26 which we were able to claim back from our health company. The cost of seeing the surgeon was £250 so nothing is cheap these days. It is so unfair i know.

sylvi.xx

[Treesha]

I saw my consultant privately through hubbys work health plan which was great had everything done, got a diagnosis then consultant advised it would be better to see him through his nhs clinic, that was november and I havn't seen him since!!!! Xxx

[LavendarLady in reply to Treesha]

Treesha, may I suggest you ring his NHS secretary (who is usually the same person as his private one!) and get her to chase up an appt for you. Waiting since November is ridiculous.

I wonder if NRAS could do anything to assist with these waiting times for the NHS? I know there are people who are much worse off than us but waiting 6/7 months for an appt when you are in pain is just not on.

LavendarLady x

[Treesha in reply to LavendarLady]

Hi LL when I saw him last in November he started me on MTX 15mg and wanted a follow up in 3 months. When the appt came through it was for 6months after. I rang his private secretary who told me to ring his nhs one who promised to sort it out. I did receive an appt just within the 3 months and when I got there I saw his registrar! He said I was stable, gave me an injection in my wrist and sent me over to the care of my gp for bloods and prescriptions. Then I had a bad flare and eventually saw the rheumy nurse who gave me another injection intra muscularand upped my meds. She said I wasn't stable and would have to write to my gp and explain she said gp won't be happy about it. Her parting comment to me was if your next appt gets cancelled ring the dept and book in for nusre acccess because I need to be monitored. She said he often cancells because he travels around a lot giving lectures and things. So why oh why is he still practiising if he doesn't have the time. When I saw him in november he was just about to leave for a flight to south africa and I felt really rushed and an inconvenience. Tricia xxx

[oldtimer]

The rheumy consultants here are so overloaded that even their private appointments are difficult to get. To cut short the wait when I had an ESR of 87 with a flare up and my sister just had a diagnosis of Giant cell arteritis, I made a private appointment and had to wait six weeks for that - it would have been six weeks longer on the NHS.

Now RA and other arthritis conditions are being more recognised by GPs the pressure on consultants is enormous, and the pressure from the managers for them to see new patients not old ones is high too. We need more rheumy consultants, or GPs with a special interest, but are unlikely to get them with the NHS being squeezed.

[LavendarLady]

I am afraid that if BUPA consider you are now in a chronic condition, they won't cover you for RA treatments unless it is a treatment which puts you back into the position you were in before you needed the treatment! Confusing isn't it. We have changed from BUPA to AVIVA and saved ourselves £100 per month for the same cover!

I see my consultant privately every 3 months and can always see him more frequently if I am unwell.I only have to e mail or ring his secretary. A consultation costs £125 and if I need any treatment it works out at £235.

Bupa/Aviva won't cover me for a routine appt so I pay it myself although savings are rapidly diminishing but it is worth it. I'd rather pay for that and forego something else.

When I was first diagnosed my own NHS GP said that if I had relied on the NHS for treatment I would have been left in a hospital bed with no treatment for weeks! My hairdresser has RA and also sees the NHS consultant - I gather from what she tells me, that she has to wait ages to see him even when she gets an appt and always feels as if she is being shoved out of his office as soon as she gets in and no one seems to listen to what she has to say!

I am supposed to be going back under the NHS for consultant appts as the hospital is getting sticky about receiving drugs under NHS but paying for a consultant privately. I have told them in no uncertain terms that I won't see anyone but the consultant who is used to me, neither will I sit in the hospital for 2 or 3 hours waiting for an appt. I would walk out first! If everyone did that, things would surely improve.

If you can afford to see a consultant privately, it is worth it if just for the extra reassurance. LavendarLady x

[helixhelix]

I feel I have to stand up for my NHS rheumy, who's great. Hugely busy, but I know that if it's urgent she will squeeze me in - even if it's during her lunch hour, and in a corridor. Only slight problem is that she's on maternity leave at the moment - but promised she was coming back!