NHS or private health?

My treatment was NHS, I didn't have any insurance so it wasn't a choice. I am of the opinion that NHS cancer treatment is very good. Politicians care only about headlines and soundbites, and Cancer makes headlines, whereas fungal nail infections don't. So cancer services on NHS are well funded, most of the rest isn't.

Your cancer is very standard and very treatable, only if you were requiring treatments such as Lu177 would you need private funding.

If you go private at this stage, any follow up treatment for any complications may be difficult to access back in the NHS. Apparently some people on this forum have experienced that as a problem.

These are only my options, others may differ.

Mark , I was diagnosed at 62 just over 11 years ago, , I did take advantage of my wife's private medical insurance for a couple of minor issues. I did take the cash benefit when I needed salvage treatment, one way or another we pay for private insurance. My oncologist is the same guy either privately or on the NHS ,the difference is I always see the consultant privately and not one of his registrars, having said that I preferred the registrar when I had some other treatment in a different hospital.

I stopped with the NHS until early 2023. I changed to private the private sector because they could offer different treatments for more advanced cancer that were not on offer on the NHS. 

In the early days my surgeon suggested stopping with the NHS ,even though I could have seen him privately. Getting follow up and back up treatment is probably easier on the NHS. My GP is reluctant to do my PSA tests because I am being treated privately. 

Thanks Chris 

Whilst I am  a huge supporter of NHS, and I cannot fault  the two week pathway nor the doctors we have seen, there was a confusion and getting a response from CNS a was dreadful, they just don’t reply, likewise it’s hard to contact consultants and we are currently in the situation of having to contact to see when next appt is as PSA test due. 

my friend had a completely different experience private, and whilst of course still stressful the communication is far better and less delays.

if we had insurance I’d use it. As sadly the NHS under funding, recruitment and retention issues does affect things. 

I had my initial advanced RT done in Germany within a trial but returned to the Royal Marsden to be monitored and it was they who referred me to UCLH for HIFU within a trial at no cost UCLH still monitor me and I have just had an MRI check up, now done every second year wihin the NHS.

As regards a long wait for knee surgery, this can take so long I might be tempted to go private to get this done earlier.

Similarly, I had been waiting Cateract Surgery on the NHS for over two years and decided to have this done privately. I also had this combined with a procedure for Glaucoma called MIGS. A small titanium stent is put in the eye which relieves the pressure on the Optic Nerve. It was quite a chunk of cash but was done by a top surgeon. The MIGS procedure is only recently started being done on the NHS in a few places. The surgeon implied the Cateract in my left eye had been left for too long and the operation was "a little tricky". Anyway, everything is so much brighter now and although I need glasses just for reading, my eyesight is now 20/20 and pressure on the Optic Nerve most satisfactorily reduced. What price your eyesight?!! Incidentally, my surgeon wrote to my GP asking if he would get me referred back to the hospital in Devon for monitoring as I am 200+ miles from where I had the surgery and this has been agreed and appointment made.

I think for Prostate Cancer it makes sense to get this sorted on the NHS in most cases and if you don't have medical insurance, put something aside if you can for procedures like I have mentioned that are not as well covered in terms of time or type by the NHS.

Hi Mark

My journey started 4 years ago and I had private medical cover but I didn't use it and I cannot fault my treatment or the timescales. Firstly, the lead surgeon at the hospital ( The Lister Stevenage) assured me he would personally perform the RALP and perhaps as important, I was recently retired and did not know if ongoing I would be able to afford the increasing insurance premiums. So, thinking that a switch from private to NHS at a later date may be problematical, I chose NHS and have never regretted that decision. Referring to previous posts I have no doubt that private is best for elective procedures although I will qualify that by saying that I waited only 4 weeks for  Moorfields in London to remove my cataracts once the decision was made. You are Gleason 6 and may never need focal or radical treatment so I suggest if you follow the AS path to stay with the NHS. But make sure it is Active and that you have regular PSA tests and annual MRI scans. If you proceed beyond AS then you are likely in it one way or another for the long term and from my perspective, a major consideration on choosing between NHS and private would be the expected duration of your continuing employment (and associated medical insurance benefit) and your ability to maintain that insurance at a comparative level beyond that time. 

Best of luck, Peter

Having experienced "serious" operations both privately and on the NHS here are my pearls of wisdom:

Do not have major surgery in a private hospital. If you want an operation privately make sure you are in a private bed in an NHS hospital that has full critical care facilities.

Edited by member 06 Jan 2025 at 15:31  | Reason: Not specified

Yes My husbands consultant advised him to have his op at Royal Marsden privately even though he works privately out of other private London hospitals. Having said that my mother in the 80 ‘s had a cystectomy ( removal of bladder) at a private London Hospital. She was then in her 40’s. When in her 50’s the cancer was found to have spread to neighbouring organ and nodes she was treated by an oncologist at London Bridge. The treatment she received was not widely available in the NHS and her Oncologist told her that was the case. She trialled a certain combination of chemo which included an infusion of chemo for 18 months through a Hickman line. Indeed when she experienced a DVT she was operated on putting a mesh in her groin preventing the clot travelling to a lung. Again when she got sepsis when on chemo she was treated at London Bridge. Later in her 60’s she was treated successfully for breast cancer. She died in her 80’s having welcomed two great grandchildren into the world and in her particular circs I have no doubt without the benefit of private medical care she would not have reached old age having been diagnosed initially in her 40’s with bladder cancer that subsequently spread.

Time has however moved on and treatment for prostate cancer follows sadly a well trodden path and I suspect there is little if no difference between treatment options offered by the NHS or private.

Edited by member 06 Jan 2025 at 18:03  | Reason: Not specified

I went private as timing can be key with any form of cancer. I chose London Bridge Guys flagship NHS hospital (crash facilities on site) with a private wing so you get access to the best of both worlds. Flagship NHS hospitals tend to have the best kit (better budgets etc) and I was able to choose a very high volume and experienced professor for the work. With private you have to be mindful that aftercare isn’t like the NHS as you are paying for a service. Although with mine it’s was very good as two weeks following surgery email/phone to a CNS urology nurse until catheter removal. I had to pay for pads and most other bit and pieces but fully expected that.

End to end a fantastic experience with private large room en suite. Great food and staff.  I was able to sleep and had good tv services etc plus I took a media box in for streaming stuff which worked well. 

Guys now have the Da Vinci single port robotic system which is very cool. I had my surgery with Da Vinci Xi system. Advantages as quicker recovery usually when you are in the hands of high volume surgeon.

i wouldn’t change anything if i had to do it again. 

Edited by member 06 Jan 2025 at 21:28  | Reason: Not specified

I am in the same situation, diagnosed with Gleason 3+3, in all quadrants, T2(c). It was recent (2 weeks ago), so I am debating what and how. Currently went into AS in the interim.

I agree on diet and what we can do ourselves to slow it. This is in our hands. I moved into a more focused diet, to do whatever I can in my control.

What troubles is whether there are other grades in the prostate that were not sampled (identified in the MRI scan) or whether in a few years from now, I'd regret not doing something early. The $1M question.

Something I guess everyone of us with Gleason 6 is facing.

But, in the grand scheme of things, I feel privileged, with all the personal stories here in the forum. All we can do is support each other and make our own decisions. Sooner or later.

Interestingly enough, that question "what would you do..." and the answer helped me crystallize a way forward with my treatment options. I am not going to bore you with my story, in a nutshell, I explored a number of treatment options post diagnosis and seemed to settle for either the RARP or HIFU. I was already in the queue for surgery, when I read an article about HIFU at the UCLH. Anyway, I had to perform another biopsy to ascertain if I was eligible for this treatment. As usual, I got a telephone call from the consultant to discuss the results, and even though I was eligible, I could tell he was not 100% convinced... I was GL 3+4 on one side and 3+3 on the other... I was 55 at the time. So confused as to which way to go, I asked the question and his answer was given my age, he would go for surgery, that was all I needed to hear!

Edited by member 07 Jan 2025 at 15:09  | Reason: sp

TechGuy, it's also worth noting that my consultant urologist wasn't really impressed by my upgrading from G3+4 to G4+3. He said that if G4 is there at all there is an increased risk of spread and this should be considered in choice of treatment. 

Lizzo

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