if you ghave private treatment ,how do you get back to nhs surveillance aftercare?

I asked my nurse if there was an issue if I had a private PSMA scan.  She said other patients do it and the NHS Oncologist will use the scan, if or when I get referred.

I also opted for private dermatology treatment some years ago and the NHS doctor carried on monitoring it.  I did ask him first.

If you have private health insurance then, depending on your cover, you are covered for all standard treatments. and all subsequent ultra sensitive PSA tests and any follow up treatments, should you need them. Of course if it is just on payment, say for prostatectomy, it will depend on the private hospital and the consultant what is covered. I suspect in that case after the initial treatment you will have to rely on the NHS. Some GPs regard this as queue  jumping.

I was initally diagnosed 2 years ago at the Royal Marsden on the NHS . The diagnostic treatment I had received was fantastic. It was super fast and slick. Within 2 weeks of referral, I had a diagnosis and treatment plan options, which were given to me over the phone.   All the necessary examination, MRI, biopsy , MDT meeting were all done within that time.  I doubt going private could have matched this. 

I was offered the surgery to be done a month later, but because I wanted a specific surgeon to carry out the treatment I decided to go private ( self pay).  Unfortunately, this consultant was between NHS posts, he had just left  RM and moving to UCLH.  This later caused problems with me getting back on to the NHS hospital for monitoring and post op care.

RM discharged me,  and UCLH would not accept me as a patient as they had not been involved in the surgery. My last  meeting with the cosultant was for the post surgery path report.  I couldn't continue to self pay privately and was referred back to my GP.

If you have a good proactive GP and who is knowledgeable of prostate cancer , its treatment and complications etc then its probably not much of an issue. However in my case, not only was it difficult to see a GP, but when you do see or speak to someone it was a different person every time and they just lacked the knowledge. It got quite frustrating explaining and repeating yourself.  I didn't have access to a  specialist nurse to contact when I had pain or symptoms during first year post surgery. Thank goodness I found this site.

I knew I had to do 3 monthly PSA during the first year, but wasn't sure whether it swtiched to 6 monthy intervals after that. ( I later learnt that this depends on the path report) .The GP had no clue either and so I reached out to the consultant who did the surgery.  There was also a delay in referring me to ED clinic which didn't happen until 1 year after the surgery ,and then I wasn't seen until 4 months after that. 

My concern now is if there is a recurrence, I will have to be referred to the hospital as a new patient and this may take longer then ususal , as I don't have an oncologist overseeing my care.  This is just my experience and I think came about because the surgeon was not affliated to an NHS hospital at the time of surgery.