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User
Posted 21 Jul 2025 at 19:28

I am worrying msyelf sick because at age 72 I'm offered an NHS prostectomy 24 weeks after a biopsy in May, 2025.
I was diganosed with T2N0MX, Gleason 3+4=7 with less than 10% of 4 and an enrollment on Active Surveillance which I ditched after a fortnight.
I'm now facing a long NHS waiting list.
Am considering going self-pay private for a new biopsy to guide me whether to hang on until October for the NHS - or go private for surgery asap. I know it'll cost a fortune but I'm desperate for treatment while the malignant cells are (hopefully) still within the capsule and my PSA has dropped to 5.1 from 6.4.
Am concerned about how self-pay private could work with the NHS for any follow-ups after surgery. I'd welcome any thoughts.

August1 UPDATE: I've just been given a date for an NHS RALP at the end of August. Am pleased - and my anxiety level has plummeted.
I'll now be getting hopefully curative treatment while knowing the NHS is there for any aftercare.
Thanks again to all the posters on here who shared their experiences and offered their thoughts. Appreciated.

Edited by member 01 Aug 2025 at 02:32  | Reason: Updating.

User
Posted 01 Aug 2025 at 00:34

Update: I've just been given a date for an NHS RALP at the end of August. Am pleased - and my anxiety level has plummeted.
I'll now be getting hopefully curative treatment while knowing the NHS is there for any aftercare.
Thanks again to all the posters on here who shared their experiences and offered their thoughts. Appreciated.

Edited by member 01 Aug 2025 at 02:34  | Reason: Updating.

User
Posted 21 Jul 2025 at 23:10

Having not had RARP either private or NHS, I can't give any direct answers. Having been on this forum a few years I have seen similar questions and their answers. RARP private will cost somewhere around £20k. Some people on here have reported that the NHS doesn't really want to know about supporting incontinence, ED, etc. afterwards, but others have said the NHS has been fine. It probably depends on your local NHS trust, I don't know if you can find out from them in advance how supportive they will be.

If you have been offered AS there is no hurry, obviously you think there is, and that's why you ditched AS. The only known side effect of AS is anxiety, so I guess you could say you're treating the anxiety by having a RARP. Well you are better at knowing which aspects of your health to prioritise than I am.

There are plenty of men on here who have ditched AS, due to anxiety and some because the test results are clearly going the wrong way. There are some who didn't even try AS for two weeks despite it being in the opinion of the doctors the best option. So at least you have gave AS a go and know it is not for you.

By my reckoning October is 12 weeks away, if the doctors consider you suitable for AS there is no way that they think it will progress within three months. A biopsy would not tell you anything useful, it would tell you, you have G 3+4=7 cancer with about 10% G4 but you already know that, it would tell you nothing about whether the cancer has progressed because it is a sample of a small area of the prostate. An MRI would be more useful than a biopsy, but the best test for cancer progression is a PSA test, and from what you have said it is not getting any worse.

If you were really really worried about progression, you may be able to get Hormone Therapy prescribed for three months.

As your cancer seems very low risk you would probably be eligible for the latest radiotherapy, which is about 5 visits to the the hospital over two weeks to eliminate the cancer, and have hardly any risk of incontinence.

As I'm sure you can tell, in my opinion, as some one with no medical training and no knowledge of your cancer other than what you have posted here, I think any money you spend on this would be wasted, and better spent on fine port and Cuban cigars (and I don't even smoke).

Dave

User
Posted 21 Jul 2025 at 23:12

Hi Kev 

I'm sorry that you've had to join the club, but welcome to the forum.

You have relatively low PSA, and a relatively low grade cancer that is prostate confined. That's why active surveillance was a treatment option. I can't understand why you've 'ditched it' so quickly. You do mention being desperate for surgery. I can only think that this desperation is due to diagnosis anxiety rather than the diagnosis itself. We all know how upsetting it is to be told that you've got cancer but with the details you've given yours seems very manageable. 

Six months does seem quite a wait for surgery, but I would not be unduly concerned about that. I think, apart from the odd hiccup, most on here are happy with wait times and treatment given by the NHS. 

Of course you can go private, but why pay for something you get free. You might get treatment quicker paying for it, but I really don't think you need to rush.

Your PSA dropping from 6 to 5 suggests that you may have other non prostate conditions or infections that are also affecting your PSA levels.

Of course there are never any guarantees how prostate cancer will or will not progress, but you do not appear to be in any imminent danger. 

Whatever you decide, I wish you the best of luck, mate.👍

 

Edited by member 21 Jul 2025 at 23:21  | Reason: Additional text

User
Posted 21 Jul 2025 at 23:29

Kev, I opted for using our health insurance because I could get some salvage treatment privately that was not available on the NHS . Due to a bit of sarcasm from my private consultant my GP said they would not be interested in treating any issues I had related to my private treatment. The NHS is quite clear in its policy that if a patient goes privately then the patient should expect to pay for all treatment. As said, follow up treatment can be a bit of an issue where guys have had private surgery. 

You could be spending £20k on surgery now that may still not get all the cancer. We don't know for certain that the cancer is within the capsule until it's in the lab. If £20k is loose change perhaps consider it. I was diagnosed at 62 with a 4+3 I then had a pretty poor histology and have so far survived 11 years, and recently started on HT.

Thanks Chris 

User
Posted 22 Jul 2025 at 08:07

Originally Posted by: Online Community Member
We get told to 'catch cancer early,' but these repeated delays for treatment have had a crushing effect on me. I feel helpless.

Hi again Kev.

Cancer is a frightening word, but as far as cancers go, the majority of prostate cancer is slow growing. If you think it's worth spending your life savings to pay privately for radical treatment, to reduce your worries then do it.

However, it is likely that in your case, the delay will make no difference to the outcome. If I'd been in your position I'd have given active surveillance at least six month to a year. During that time, I'd have learned more about the disease, before rushing into further treatment. 

You've been advised by clinicians that monitoring your disease is a suitable option but you've decided that you'd rather have surgery. That's fair enough, but to pay thousands to speed up what you want seems unwarranted and unnecessary.

If you knew a little more about the disease, I doubt you'd feel as crushed and helpless by your diagnosis. Your anxiety doesn't suit active surveillance and presumably that's why you've abandoned it as a treatment option, but try not to rush into things when there's probably no need rush. 

Here's a conversation on wait times for prostate cancer surgery, but bear in mind it's over two years old.

https://community.prostatecanceruk.org/posts/t29308-Current-waiting-times-for-RP

Good luck, mate.👍

Edited by member 22 Jul 2025 at 08:55  | Reason: Add link

User
Posted 22 Jul 2025 at 08:36

Kev, I may be misunderstanding this document but the statement from my GP was quite clear and he did refuse to prescribe my medication that was not covered by my insurance company. I think the attached document has links to other documents. My private consultant did say that most GPs will cross the line.

https://www.nottinghamshiremedicinesmanagement.nhs.uk/media/xoqpfr10/nhs-and-privateinterface-prescribing-110324-pm.pdf

I did wait 4 months from diagnosis to surgery for a new Robot to be built at our hospital, I wish I could tell you it made no difference to the outcome,but when the prostate was removed there were positive margins and extra prostatic extension. To balance that, in hindsight I had been having urinating issues for 12 years before surgery and my GP missed a PSA of 6.7 three years before my surgery. 

If you have been offered AS then they presumably consider that is appropriate and you should take advantage of life as it is before getting used to a new normal after surgery. I take your point about getting it out early, a tap dripping into a bowl will at some point start to overflow.

Thanks Chris 

Added. Having read similar documents from other trusts they seem to concentrate on prescribing medication, the above document for my area mentions procedures.

Edited by member 22 Jul 2025 at 08:44  | Reason: Extra paragraph

User
Posted 22 Jul 2025 at 11:21

Juliandee, I was having PSMA scans and SABR treatment done privately and bloods done by my my GP until my consultant upset my GP. It was then that the GP said they would not prescribe meds not covered by my insurance company and would not get involved with my cancer treatment while I was having private treatment. I swapped back to the NHS and my GP now prescribes my meds and the bloods are at the moment requested by my NHS consultant.  

People are amazed by the action of my GP , but it may be that our GP practice puts business considerations first. My NHS/private consultant did say before seeing me privately that I could not flit between NHS and private treatment. I think many people see a consultant privately and get onto the consultants NHS list. 

I my situation the reluctantance of my GP to share my care with the private sector is costing the NHS thousands of pounds for my drugs that the insurance company would have paid for.

A frequently seen situation on here is where GPs will not write a prescription for a pump, regardless of whether surgery was done privately or on the NHS.

It comes down to the postcode lottery and in some cases the the whims of the GP or policy of the local trust.

User
Posted 23 Jul 2025 at 05:04
The two examples I gave were quite separate and unrelated, the first leading to further treatment and the second, other than the provision of eye drops, just involving monitoring, at least so far. I know some people are under the impression that you can't go from Private to NHS or the other way round, and this may be true in some situations, but it can happen. Perhaps advisable for men to check in a particular trust how they would stand if contemplating moving from one to the other.
Barry
User
Posted 24 Jul 2025 at 19:29

Very interesting post.  As it happens I've used Chat GPT over the past few months for my own condition, updating as I go along, and I've been amazed by the highly personalised responses which closely follow what I'm being told by my consultant, although in much more detail it has to be said.  The key to using Chat GPT is in the prompts you ask which need to be very direct to achieve the most tailored results.  I say again, the responses were very clearly relevant to me based on the information I put in, not at all generalised averages that type of thing.  Incidentally, for what it's worth and nothing to do with PCa of course, as a would-be storyteller, especially screenplays, I've also dabbled with AI and from just a few scant idea suggestions it instantly comes up with pages of fully-fledged outlines, character profiles, act progressions etc.  Phenomenal - it just has to be seen to be believed!

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User
Posted 21 Jul 2025 at 23:10

Having not had RARP either private or NHS, I can't give any direct answers. Having been on this forum a few years I have seen similar questions and their answers. RARP private will cost somewhere around £20k. Some people on here have reported that the NHS doesn't really want to know about supporting incontinence, ED, etc. afterwards, but others have said the NHS has been fine. It probably depends on your local NHS trust, I don't know if you can find out from them in advance how supportive they will be.

If you have been offered AS there is no hurry, obviously you think there is, and that's why you ditched AS. The only known side effect of AS is anxiety, so I guess you could say you're treating the anxiety by having a RARP. Well you are better at knowing which aspects of your health to prioritise than I am.

There are plenty of men on here who have ditched AS, due to anxiety and some because the test results are clearly going the wrong way. There are some who didn't even try AS for two weeks despite it being in the opinion of the doctors the best option. So at least you have gave AS a go and know it is not for you.

By my reckoning October is 12 weeks away, if the doctors consider you suitable for AS there is no way that they think it will progress within three months. A biopsy would not tell you anything useful, it would tell you, you have G 3+4=7 cancer with about 10% G4 but you already know that, it would tell you nothing about whether the cancer has progressed because it is a sample of a small area of the prostate. An MRI would be more useful than a biopsy, but the best test for cancer progression is a PSA test, and from what you have said it is not getting any worse.

If you were really really worried about progression, you may be able to get Hormone Therapy prescribed for three months.

As your cancer seems very low risk you would probably be eligible for the latest radiotherapy, which is about 5 visits to the the hospital over two weeks to eliminate the cancer, and have hardly any risk of incontinence.

As I'm sure you can tell, in my opinion, as some one with no medical training and no knowledge of your cancer other than what you have posted here, I think any money you spend on this would be wasted, and better spent on fine port and Cuban cigars (and I don't even smoke).

Dave

User
Posted 21 Jul 2025 at 23:12

Hi Kev 

I'm sorry that you've had to join the club, but welcome to the forum.

You have relatively low PSA, and a relatively low grade cancer that is prostate confined. That's why active surveillance was a treatment option. I can't understand why you've 'ditched it' so quickly. You do mention being desperate for surgery. I can only think that this desperation is due to diagnosis anxiety rather than the diagnosis itself. We all know how upsetting it is to be told that you've got cancer but with the details you've given yours seems very manageable. 

Six months does seem quite a wait for surgery, but I would not be unduly concerned about that. I think, apart from the odd hiccup, most on here are happy with wait times and treatment given by the NHS. 

Of course you can go private, but why pay for something you get free. You might get treatment quicker paying for it, but I really don't think you need to rush.

Your PSA dropping from 6 to 5 suggests that you may have other non prostate conditions or infections that are also affecting your PSA levels.

Of course there are never any guarantees how prostate cancer will or will not progress, but you do not appear to be in any imminent danger. 

Whatever you decide, I wish you the best of luck, mate.👍

 

Edited by member 21 Jul 2025 at 23:21  | Reason: Additional text

User
Posted 21 Jul 2025 at 23:29

Kev, I opted for using our health insurance because I could get some salvage treatment privately that was not available on the NHS . Due to a bit of sarcasm from my private consultant my GP said they would not be interested in treating any issues I had related to my private treatment. The NHS is quite clear in its policy that if a patient goes privately then the patient should expect to pay for all treatment. As said, follow up treatment can be a bit of an issue where guys have had private surgery. 

You could be spending £20k on surgery now that may still not get all the cancer. We don't know for certain that the cancer is within the capsule until it's in the lab. If £20k is loose change perhaps consider it. I was diagnosed at 62 with a 4+3 I then had a pretty poor histology and have so far survived 11 years, and recently started on HT.

Thanks Chris 

User
Posted 22 Jul 2025 at 02:43
Thanks colwickchris, I wasn't aware of NHS policy that anyone going private should pay for all subsequent treatment, that doesn't seem fair but ta for the warning. I'm only considering using my life savings to go private because of being told of estimated waits for surgery of six to eight weeks and now a staggering 22 weeks on the NHS since electing for surgery. We get told to 'catch cancer early,' but these repeated delays for treatment have had a crushing effect on me. I feel helpless.
User
Posted 22 Jul 2025 at 08:07

Originally Posted by: Online Community Member
We get told to 'catch cancer early,' but these repeated delays for treatment have had a crushing effect on me. I feel helpless.

Hi again Kev.

Cancer is a frightening word, but as far as cancers go, the majority of prostate cancer is slow growing. If you think it's worth spending your life savings to pay privately for radical treatment, to reduce your worries then do it.

However, it is likely that in your case, the delay will make no difference to the outcome. If I'd been in your position I'd have given active surveillance at least six month to a year. During that time, I'd have learned more about the disease, before rushing into further treatment. 

You've been advised by clinicians that monitoring your disease is a suitable option but you've decided that you'd rather have surgery. That's fair enough, but to pay thousands to speed up what you want seems unwarranted and unnecessary.

If you knew a little more about the disease, I doubt you'd feel as crushed and helpless by your diagnosis. Your anxiety doesn't suit active surveillance and presumably that's why you've abandoned it as a treatment option, but try not to rush into things when there's probably no need rush. 

Here's a conversation on wait times for prostate cancer surgery, but bear in mind it's over two years old.

https://community.prostatecanceruk.org/posts/t29308-Current-waiting-times-for-RP

Good luck, mate.👍

Edited by member 22 Jul 2025 at 08:55  | Reason: Add link

User
Posted 22 Jul 2025 at 08:36

Kev, I may be misunderstanding this document but the statement from my GP was quite clear and he did refuse to prescribe my medication that was not covered by my insurance company. I think the attached document has links to other documents. My private consultant did say that most GPs will cross the line.

https://www.nottinghamshiremedicinesmanagement.nhs.uk/media/xoqpfr10/nhs-and-privateinterface-prescribing-110324-pm.pdf

I did wait 4 months from diagnosis to surgery for a new Robot to be built at our hospital, I wish I could tell you it made no difference to the outcome,but when the prostate was removed there were positive margins and extra prostatic extension. To balance that, in hindsight I had been having urinating issues for 12 years before surgery and my GP missed a PSA of 6.7 three years before my surgery. 

If you have been offered AS then they presumably consider that is appropriate and you should take advantage of life as it is before getting used to a new normal after surgery. I take your point about getting it out early, a tap dripping into a bowl will at some point start to overflow.

Thanks Chris 

Added. Having read similar documents from other trusts they seem to concentrate on prescribing medication, the above document for my area mentions procedures.

Edited by member 22 Jul 2025 at 08:44  | Reason: Extra paragraph

User
Posted 22 Jul 2025 at 10:44

Kev, at the age of 74 I had a similar diagnosis to yourself, ie Gleason 3+4 T2 N0 M0 and offered a choice of RT or RALP at my local hospital but with the possibility of AS.  I sought a second opinion privately with a consultant at The Christie in Manchester whose reviewing pathologist said he was very confident the tumour was almost exclusively pattern 3 with only a minimal amount of pattern 4 (less than 5%) and the diagnosis should be regarded as Gleason 3+3 which was upheld by the Greater Manchester Prostate MDT.  Hence I've been on AS now for nearly three years with two private mpMRI scans following the first at my local hospital showing no change in the prostate.  My frequent PSA tests during that time have fluctuated between 11 initially to 13 most recently in May (high because I have a very large prostate), with a couple of blips caused by infections.  As others have said, please don't rush to undergo a very expensive private op, your cancer is favourable intermediate risk and confined to the gland.  Prostate cancer is usually slow-growing and particularly so in your case.  Regarding switching back to the NHS, my understanding is there should be no problem as everyone is entitled to NHS care.  For example, many people pay for a consultation with a specialist privately for reasons of speed and then have any necessary treatment on the NHS. It's also possible to have both private and NHS at the same time, as long as they are in different locations.  In my own case, I'm under The Christie privately for my AS but my PSA blood tests and results are done locally at my GP surgery.  

User
Posted 22 Jul 2025 at 11:21

Juliandee, I was having PSMA scans and SABR treatment done privately and bloods done by my my GP until my consultant upset my GP. It was then that the GP said they would not prescribe meds not covered by my insurance company and would not get involved with my cancer treatment while I was having private treatment. I swapped back to the NHS and my GP now prescribes my meds and the bloods are at the moment requested by my NHS consultant.  

People are amazed by the action of my GP , but it may be that our GP practice puts business considerations first. My NHS/private consultant did say before seeing me privately that I could not flit between NHS and private treatment. I think many people see a consultant privately and get onto the consultants NHS list. 

I my situation the reluctantance of my GP to share my care with the private sector is costing the NHS thousands of pounds for my drugs that the insurance company would have paid for.

A frequently seen situation on here is where GPs will not write a prescription for a pump, regardless of whether surgery was done privately or on the NHS.

It comes down to the postcode lottery and in some cases the the whims of the GP or policy of the local trust.

User
Posted 22 Jul 2025 at 18:25

Hi Kev, 

CNS at post biopsy/diagnosis meeting asked, at least 4 times, if I had private cover. I was even given consultant names and contact details. At this point I was T2c N0 Mx. This was February 25 and NHS operation timescale was indicated to be August at the earliest.

My wife and I were aware there were big resource problems in local hospital Urology department so this wasn’t unexpected. When questioned, the CNS commented that, should I need to come back to the NHS, it would be a seamless process 🤔. I must admit I wasn’t convinced. 

Private consultant surgeon/ hospital MDT team questioned the diagnosis, suspecting T3a, which proved to be the case. TBF I believe the NHS were about to change diagnosis after the SMDT meeting had taken place. PSMA Pet scan followed.

Consultant also confirmed return to NHS, if ever required, would be seamless. Fingers crossed this will never be required (although this is without doubt my biggest fear as I recover from the surgery).

So far other interactions between my consultant surgeon and GP surgery have been pretty good. Both pump and tadalafil duly prescribed by GP as requested and first post op PSA went well.

I agree with everyone on here that emotions are running very high at the time of diagnosis and a rushed decision may well not be the right one. All factors need to be taken into consideration. I’m naturally a very cautious person and had used the biospsy/MRI results to calculate the tumour would be close to the capsule edge if not through it before even talking to the medical. My main tumour was 24mm in a 50x47x40 gland. So it wasn’t a surprise when the final diagnosis came out as it did. 

I also suffer from health anxiety and this Pca diagnosis caused me significant issues. I suspect my G3/4 wouldn’t have been a problem to wait the 6 months but I’m frankly not sure my mental health would have coped this wait. 

User
Posted 22 Jul 2025 at 22:00

Originally Posted by: Online Community Member

Kev, I opted for using our health insurance because I could get some salvage treatment privately that was not available on the NHS . Due to a bit of sarcasm from my private consultant my GP said they would not be interested in treating any issues I had related to my private treatment. The NHS is quite clear in its policy that if a patient goes privately then the patient should expect to pay for all treatment. As said, follow up treatment can be a bit of an issue where guys have had private surgery. 

Thanks Chris 

I had RT outside the NHS and Royal Marsden took me back and recommended me for more treatment within NHS.

Also, due to long NHS wait, had eye surgery privately last year but GP still prescribes drops and have been having check-ups within NHS, so it is possible to seamlessly go from one to the other in my experience.

Barry
User
Posted 22 Jul 2025 at 23:04

There is a difference between follow up treatment and totally unrelated treatment for a different condition.

I transferred from the private sector to NHS without too much of an issue for my cancer treatment.

Thanks Chris 

User
Posted 23 Jul 2025 at 05:04
The two examples I gave were quite separate and unrelated, the first leading to further treatment and the second, other than the provision of eye drops, just involving monitoring, at least so far. I know some people are under the impression that you can't go from Private to NHS or the other way round, and this may be true in some situations, but it can happen. Perhaps advisable for men to check in a particular trust how they would stand if contemplating moving from one to the other.
Barry
User
Posted 23 Jul 2025 at 07:50
The main problem is GPs are basically useless in the modern medical service. They have less knowledge and experience than Google or the various specialist nursing teams that have replaced most of their old personal services.

When I moved from private to NHS it was seamless, I also used to get meds prescribed by my private consultant provided by the NHS.

User
Posted 23 Jul 2025 at 13:09

Originally Posted by: Online Community Member
The main problem is GPs are basically useless in the modern medical service. They have less knowledge and experience than Google or the various specialist nursing teams that have replaced most of their old personal services.

When I moved from private to NHS it was seamless. I also used to get meds prescribed by my private consultant provided by the NHS.

I agree.  My previous GP told me I knew more about PCa than he did, and my present one got me to talk to his students on PCa treatments.  What I like is that if he has insufficient knowledge or is doubtful about something, whether it's PCa or another problem, he will readily refer.  Notwithstanding the long training GPs undergo, they can't have detailed knowledge of every illness or medical problem and keep up to date with all the advances being made in medicine and treatment. The answer, as I  see it, is greater specialization, and in some practices, this is happening.

 

Barry
User
Posted 23 Jul 2025 at 20:15
The one advantage GPs used to have was familiarity with their patients, today you will probably have a phone consult, then see a "pretend GP" all before getting to see a different GP to the one you managed to see previously.
User
Posted 24 Jul 2025 at 01:33
A considerable part of the problem is that many GP's have in excess of 3000 patients, and with an ageing population, elderly patients need or feel they need to see their GP more frequently for various problems. My wife and I had a friend who had panic attacks and would see her GP at least once a week. With a friend, she came to visit us for a relaxing visit for a few days, but on the second day we had to arrange for her to see my wife's GP.. There must be others like her who take up GP's time for psychological as well as minor ailments. GP's are under pressure and cannot work in the way they used to and rarely make house calls these days. It can be very hard to get an appointment with a GP now, so some patients give up and just go to A&E. Notwithstanding all of this, the GP has to be involved in not only making referrals but following patients' progress and have further involvement with patients. It happens with what used to be your local copper too, who at one time would know many people in his area. Today, the role has expanded there too with him being pulled away to Police demonstrations and various other incidents, sometimes miles away. We live in a changing world my friend. where there are now downsides as well as advances in some things.
Barry
User
Posted 24 Jul 2025 at 12:26

AI is the way to go. AI is pretty much useless for most things. We see posts on here which are looking plausible human, but add no value. Sometimes I ask AI to write a poem, I think Adrian56 has posted the odd poem on this site, trust me Adrian you have nothing to fear from AI.

As a replacement for a GP I think AI can do very well. It can have a database of every disease and every known symptom, with a probability of that symptom appearing. By asking yes/no questions it can come up with a range of possible diseases and the probability of each one.

A GP's job is/was/should be identical to that. A GP would probably know of 1000 common diseases and their most common symptoms, so could probably diagnose 95% of the population correctly.  I know a computer can't do a physical exam, but a GP won't touch a patient now for fear of getting sued so that is not a big difference.

If you go to AE you are triaged by a medically qualified person. If you go to your GP you are triaged by the receptionist who has no medical qualification. I say give the receptionist an AI computer, let him type in your symptoms and let the computer tell you to take two aspirin.

A seven year medical degree to learn the top 1000 diseases. Followed by a career of 25 years, during which the next batch of GPs are trained up for the same short productive career was essential 30 years ago, it is pointless now.

 

Edited by member 24 Jul 2025 at 12:28  | Reason: Not specified

Dave

User
Posted 24 Jul 2025 at 19:29

Very interesting post.  As it happens I've used Chat GPT over the past few months for my own condition, updating as I go along, and I've been amazed by the highly personalised responses which closely follow what I'm being told by my consultant, although in much more detail it has to be said.  The key to using Chat GPT is in the prompts you ask which need to be very direct to achieve the most tailored results.  I say again, the responses were very clearly relevant to me based on the information I put in, not at all generalised averages that type of thing.  Incidentally, for what it's worth and nothing to do with PCa of course, as a would-be storyteller, especially screenplays, I've also dabbled with AI and from just a few scant idea suggestions it instantly comes up with pages of fully-fledged outlines, character profiles, act progressions etc.  Phenomenal - it just has to be seen to be believed!

User
Posted 01 Aug 2025 at 00:34

Update: I've just been given a date for an NHS RALP at the end of August. Am pleased - and my anxiety level has plummeted.
I'll now be getting hopefully curative treatment while knowing the NHS is there for any aftercare.
Thanks again to all the posters on here who shared their experiences and offered their thoughts. Appreciated.

Edited by member 01 Aug 2025 at 02:34  | Reason: Updating.

 
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