Awaiting some good news

If you are likely to go ahead with private surgery, ask a few questions first including:-
- will you have access to a clinical nurse specialist for support
- will you be able to access incontinence and / or ED services on the NHS if needed or will that be dependant on your GP
- will your future PSA tests be arranged by the surgeon and done privately or will you be handed back to your GP for all future testing

My OH had the op privately (but without private health insurance so self-funding) and only realised too late that this meant no specialist nurse allocated. We also had to fight for referral to ED services and had none of the district nurse support that others on here have talked about. That is how it works in our region, it may be different where you live. There was a member on here who had his op privately in another city and never saw his surgeon again after he was wheeled into theatre - no follow up, he never even got an appointment for the pathology results ... it would have been manageable except his GP refused to provide any aftercare out of his budget so the guy was left high and dry.

Despite the lack of support services, going private worked out well for OH and it was worth every penny to have the urologist that was already caring for my dad, father-in-law and mother-in-law - we had absolute trust in him so it would have been barmy not to do it.

I’ve had all my consultations and tests privately, but I’m going to get myself transferred to the NHS for treatment. As has already been said, it’s the aftercare and follow-ups that can be the issue with private treatment. Plus, in my case, my private medical insurance comes via my employer, and I plan to retire in the next couple of years, so I’ll lose that. In my own case, the urologist and oncologist I’ve seen privately are the same ones who would have been in charge of my case on the NHS, so switching to the NHS is straightforward. It’s worth noting that it doesn’t have to be an “all or nothing” situation with private healthcare. My own insurers (WPA) are happy for me to have NHS treatment, but still fund private consultations, which is really the best of both worlds.

Chris