Private health care

RE: Private health care

Jo Dyer — Fri, 22 Jun 2018 21:30:03 GMT

[quote user="Clive Ansell"]I have seen 2 people I know of similar age (54) recently succumb to heart attack, and another 2 with fairly advanced bowel cancer, so was thinking about some sort of wellness assessment. I am healthy as far as I know, but if you don't look you don't find. Maybe I'm overreacting.[/quote]

[quote user="Jill Butterworth"]Look on the BUPA website for the BUPA health assessments.[/quote]

This. I researched it a while ago but never actually went for it, but it looked as if you could have whatever screening tests you wanted, at a price.

In our area they have just started doing bowel screening via colonoscopy for everyone 55 and over, so you might get an invitation for that quite soon..... Sadly I've just passed the entry age. Haven't been invited yet, not looking forward to it, but as my mother died of bowel cancer I think it needs to be done.

RE: Private health care

Bob Russell — Fri, 22 Jun 2018 11:32:59 GMT

There are plenty of private GP's but some are going to provide you with whatever you want. Antibiotics? Of course. Powerful painkillers? Of course, how many?

We have a private Polish doctor. She is very elderly but gave our granddaughter the most thorough clinical examination. Even I was fairly impressed!

'Patient Access' is good when it works. Much easier to sort out routine appointments. We also have 'The Practice' that has a local GP working every evening and at the weekend. Based in the not so cottage hospital. Same day appointments are fairly easy to get if you phone reasonably early. Most local GP practices are part of the arrangement.

All works quite well but I do tend to agree that the NHS is unsustainable under present management and no-showers should get a bill sent!

I will reserve judgement until I have seen the governments 10 year plan but change is long overdue.

As for the original post 'Wellness' clinics especially private ones are likely to find abnormalities that are then investigated to little benefit to the patient.

RE: Private health care

Jill Butterworth — Fri, 22 Jun 2018 10:14:29 GMT

Look on the BUPA website for the BUPA health assessments. I did one a few years ago, they are expensive, but a reasonably comprehensive GP type overview, with basic screening, but you can ask for any extra tests you would like done at the same time. You get an actual clinical examination and an hour long consultation to discuss any worries and arrange any appropriate imaging or referral there and then. They are perfect if you are busy working and on a good income. They don't do anything you couldn't (eventually) get done on the NHS, but GP appointments only allow you to have one 'problem' at a time so you might need multiple visits to get into the system, and if you have a complicated problem, you might as well give up work for a while to get seen...

RE: Private health care

Clare Tapsfield-Wright — Fri, 22 Jun 2018 09:40:15 GMT

Reading this makes you realise what an excellent service vets provide. All these people wanting a consultation , able to pay for it but no supply for the demand.

RE: Private health care

Martin Atkinson — Fri, 22 Jun 2018 08:52:56 GMT

I don't know if it is universal or just London Boroughs but I've signed up to Patient Access. This allows you to make an appointment at your registered practice, often with the GP of your choice usually about 2 weeks in advance although other less popular members of the practice may have more appointments available. I can also order repeat prescriptions without having to call the practice, who won't allow repeats to be ordered over the phone anyway although strangely you can do it by fax - presumably they think so few people have a fax machine that they won't be bothered this way!

Although they won't let you make any appointments in advance by phone if you call at 8 am and can hang on long enough you can usually get a same day appointment, albeit not at a time of your choice.

I guess, despite being desperately busy, they need to protect themselves against advance bookers who no show. Perhaps they should fine these like dentists do or have a 3 strikes and you're out policy.

The bottom line is that unless we're prepared to pay more in our taxes for an improved NHS service its not going to improve and then they've still got to sort out their massive wastage of res-sources that is bleeding the service dry.

RE: Private health care

Julie Innes — Fri, 22 Jun 2018 08:43:48 GMT

I looked into something similar a couple of months ago, as I felt I could use an MOT and didn't really want to use up my GPs precious appointments, but although I could get a prescriptive bloods/ cholesterol/ BMI at my local private hospital, their nearest GP service was in Edinburgh (I'm closer to Hamilton), so I just left it! I felt I wanted a GP appointment where I felt I had time to discuss things for more than 5 minutes- I really feel the pressure to be in and out at my GP, not through their doing, but just awareness of the system and all the people waiting!

RE: Private health care

Clive Ansell — Fri, 22 Jun 2018 07:50:13 GMT

[quote user="Clare Tapsfield-Wright"]Clive is there not an NHS walk in centre near you? [/quote]

There is, but it's rubbish.

Given it is there as a type of 24/7 walk in service, not emergencies as they go to A&E. I attended about 18 months ago with a hard mobile 2cm swelling or mass R elbow on a Saturday, because work prevented me form GP appointment times. After a 3 hour or so wait, all they did was refer me back to my GP!, did a basic TPR, tell me it could just be a fatty lump, but didn't take a history or conduct an examination. It was a further 7 weeks before seeing a GP (Partly because of the Christmas break, and being away winter climbing, but a wait of 4-5 weeks for non urgent appointments), by which time it was reducing in size anyway, so basic bloods (All normal) and monitor. Was going to do a FNA myself, but didn't have the cojones.

RE: Private health care

Clive Ansell — Fri, 22 Jun 2018 07:37:46 GMT

Thanks for all the suggestions.

I have seen 2 people I know of similar age (54) recently succumb to heart attack, and another 2 with fairly advanced bowel cancer, so was thinking about some sort of wellness assessment. I am healthy as far as I know, but if you don't look you don't find. Maybe I'm overreacting.

What's available on the NHS is very limited, and at my GP surgery as a lead time of months rather than weeks.

RE: Private health care

Nicola Cole — Thu, 21 Jun 2018 19:30:02 GMT

It’s such a post code lottery. At my local GPs you can get same day appointment if urgent (but not A and E required). If not urgent then usually seen within a couple of days. Has early appointments from 6am ish once a week.

RE: Private health care

Clare Tapsfield-Wright — Thu, 21 Jun 2018 18:21:13 GMT

Clive is there not an NHS walk in centre near you?

RE: Private health care

David Mills — Thu, 21 Jun 2018 17:42:44 GMT

Loads of private GPs in most decent sized cities, book online about £30 a pop, they can refer you where you want, you can payg most private clinics but it isn't cheap for surgical stuff, other things unsure.

It's simply not worth trying to navigate the NHS for chronic things. I can't see how the system is sustainable unless they start charging for the timewasters or even like dentists for a check up/consultation. Part of the problem is there is no customer service element to it. Imagine ringing a vets and being told next appointment is in 5 weeks for a consult

Mismanaged, overused, underfunded, simply not fit for purpose.

RE: Private health care

Anthony Todd — Thu, 21 Jun 2018 17:05:15 GMT

Our practice has an on-line appt system which means you can [usually] get an appt in advance.

Although many of the medicos seem to not be available most of the time.....

I didn't know about it, but all you modvets will, I assume?

RE: Private health care

niamhjl — Thu, 21 Jun 2018 16:42:49 GMT

My local Nuffield hospital has posters up advertising a pay as you go private GP service! I haven’t used the service yet, just noticed the posters with interest, as I also find the NHS GP system almost impossible for someone who has a full time job and/or a life. One practice I used to be registered at didn’t allow any appointments to be made in advance at all! You had to call at 8am on the morning of the day you wanted to be seen, then wait for the doctor to call you back to decide whether or not you deserved an appointment... no provision for people who are at work and can’t always answer their phone, or need to be able to plan appointments in advance in order to get time off etc...

RE: Private health care

KMurphy — Thu, 21 Jun 2018 16:32:50 GMT

There is an online service - pushdoctor - where you can get a GP for prescriptions or referrals to bypass the long wait on the NHS.

RE: Private health care

Martin Atkinson — Thu, 21 Jun 2018 10:06:54 GMT

I have full on private medical insurance with AXA PPP, it costs me over £2k premium for this year but its worth every penny certainly with the problems I've had in the past 9 months. It still doesn't get me to see the GP any faster though. I understand you want to find a GP in a private hospital especially when you're locuming so I have no experience of that but why don't you check with your local GP - he might do private consultations: mine does although I know him well enough to talk to him and tell him what I need!

RE: Private health care

Niall Taylor — Thu, 21 Jun 2018 08:03:32 GMT

We use BUPA and have found them very good on the couple of occasions we've had to use them. But the first point of contact is always with your GP still, it is they who will make the referral to the specialist or consultant so it may not help your problems with waiting times although you would expect referral times to be shorter.

Niall