Britain's best PCa Surgeons

Mine is also on there, and in fact he's done the robotic procedure on 5 other surgeons in the same field who all developed PC!

David 

Edited by member 07 Jun 2018 at 13:58  | Reason: Not specified

The surgeon who was supposed to operate on me is there but due to a farcical mix up and zero communication I ended up with a different surgeon on the day. I only found out an hour before the op and was asked if I still wanted to go ahead or wait. Given the other surgeon had done hundreds of laparoscopic radical prostatectomies and his results were good I decided I couldn’t wait another few weeks and went ahead.

Given my cancer recurred a year later despite negative margins I have tortured myself since.

Would things be different I.e. better if I had waited those few weeks.

I have lost a lot of sleep over that even although there’s nothing I can do about it.

I complained to the heal authority and the health minister and got a sort of apology but no real appreciation of how mix ups/lack of communication affect people.

My surgeon wasn’t there.  Locally, he is held in high regard.  

ulsterman

I can't help thinking of Capitalman though; I wonder how he feels seeing the man that he believes ruined his life on a list of who's great. In fact, I wonder if Capitalman is even still with us - I have tried to contact him a few times without success.

Hi Ido4,

I am sad to hear that you are struggling with your situation. You.  No one.  Will ever know, what might have been.  So. No, Zero point beating yourself up about it.  I don't say this glibly or lightly, I was in a similar position that you were in at the point of the op confronting and regarding the op and the scalpel wielder.

I had a similar situation to you in that, on the day of my scheduled Robotic Procedure at the Royal Reading a totally new random surgeon introduced himself to me as my future.   I had met a potential  Mister Scalpel at my PRE-op.   On the day off my OP, I met  a new Mister. Scalpel.  

Never met him before.  Never heard of him before.  But?  I went for it with him. 

Long story short?  Worked for me.  Surgery, Robotic worked for me.  Easily though might not have done?  Sad fact, our outcomes is/are so much down to chance.

The point is that on the best information you had at the time, you made your choice.  And with the surgeon presenting on that morning, you made your choice. As I did.

 You may read of those who made a decision on the information available.  Then, regretted it.  But, that regret was based on fresh information that they had not had earlier.

You, and I, have had to go with it.  If, and its a big "if", you had had your preferred surgeon, or the surgeon with the best record in the land, there's no guarantee that anything might have turned out better for you or for me. Even the best Surgeon has an off day.

I wish you all the best.  But your emotional battle is only one that you can overcome. Took me ma an age before I beat mine.  

kind regards

dave 

Hi all, i have come across this site after researching the best surgeon for my father. He is due to have either open surgery of the robotic method and is currently using a surgeon who has show on the dailymail list (updated list and prior) for best surgeons. A few of you have mentioned that you happened to have surgeons on that list but no one has mentioned any names? Is there a particular one that is held more highly rated. Obviously in these situations you want as much advice as possible. 

Thanks in advance 

Site rules prohibit the naming of medical staff here, which is why nobody's named their surgeon.

Best wishes,

Chris

All the best,

Chris

Chris is correct - any surgeon can have a bad day and no matter how good the surgeon is, if it becomes clear that the cancer was more extensive than first imagined, even the best surgeon in the world can't turn back the clock or undo the op. The issue for people like Capitalman is not so much that the op went wrong or the patient was left with serious side effects, it is the support and engagement of the surgeon in the aftermath. In Capitalman's case (and others on here) the all singing all dancing urologist refused to see the patient or even acknowledge the impact. Bad outcomes can affect their published stats dramatically.  

The best you can do is use your instincts - does this person engage with us? Do I feel they value my dad and are listening to him? Does s/he answer our questions patiently and courteously or do we feel rushed and unimportant? You can also ask the urologist direct questions - the usual ones would be:

- what % of your RP patients go on to need adjuvant or salvage treatment

- what % of your patients are still using continence pads 1 year post-op 

- what % are able to get an erection sufficient for penetrative sex without pumps or medication

- why are you considering open and robotic surgery for my dad - is one likely to have a dramatically different outcome to the other? 

We chose carefully, based on who we felt able to talk to and who gave us confidence. It was a surprise when he recommended open RP but in my husband's case there were really good reasons and so we accepted the advice. Ideally, it should be all about trust and relationships rather than media coverage & marketing or isolated errors.

Thankyou so much for your replies. Annoyingly I can not yet send private messages as I am new to the site and it restricts it until I have used the site more. We are currently in touch with one surgeon and have been since we first found a high PSA and this particular surgeon has since advised of ‘open surgery’ based on scans etc however we are in the early stages and want to be sure that not only he is they right surgeon but also a capable one. As I previously mentioned my concern is that after reading the information on this site that he could be this surgeon that left some poor chap with various side affects and no duty of care- I find this concerning as the surgeon we have been dealing with is on the dailymail top 10 (both years). I’d like to say that I know any surgeon can’t preform 100% every time and each case is isolated but I find it more worrying that it’s been stated he ignored any wrong doing and didn’t follow up with his patient. Can anyone give me any advise on this? On another note I’m finding reading all the comments and conversations rather helpful and giving me a lot of comfort. Thanks in advance!