Picking a private doctor / surgeon

[edscdk]

i need some debris taken out of my knee... Picked a doctor for an initial appointment, his secretary said she would get my xrays.

I turn up for the £300 initial ( 10 mins as it turned out ) appointment,
1) doctors got no xrays,
2) no questions asked
3) he seems surprised we turned up to waste his time and uninterested - at one point he waved a letter in the air and asked where we for that from
4) told to get a MRI
5) told to put ice on it (even though i said it did not hurt)

He seemed the most qualified at the practice (not that i know much about medical credentials)

Is this normal? is it the fact i'm dealing with the skilled surgeon that only cares about the end result? (i can understand he knows nothing until he sees the MRI) - but why not tell me to get an MRI before the visit

 

[D-Ranged]

i need some debris taken out of my knee... Picked a doctor for an initial appointment, his secretary said she would get my xrays.

I turn up for the £300 initial ( 10 mins as it turned out ) appointment,
1) doctors got no xrays,
2) no questions asked
3) he seems surprised we turned up to waste his time and uninterested - at one point he waved a letter in the air and asked where we for that from
4) told to get a MRI
5) told to put ice on it (even though i said it did not hurt)

He seemed the most qualified at the practice (not that i know much about medical credentials)

Is this normal? is it the fact i'm dealing with the skilled surgeon that only cares about the end result? (i can understand he knows nothing until he sees the MRI) - but why not tell me to get an MRI before the visit

I was having a weird issue with my throat in 2021 that was going on for quite a long time. NHS was being the NHS, so i decided to go private. Found a specialist near me that had seemingly good reviews, booked in and was told i had to go to a public hospital 30mins from me.

Turns out, its just an NHS docotor that does private work at the same time. I got seen straight away, while others were queing. That was about the only good thing.

He had a very similar attitude to the guy you saw, didn't seem to bothered at all, looked down my throat with a head mounted camera, told me there's nothing wrong and its probably stress... All to the tune of £280.

I managed to workout the issue and resolve it myself again, it wasn't stress.

Long story short, its not always better, you just get in quicker. Obviously there will be plenty of stories opposite to us, just my 2p.

 

[Azza]

i need some debris taken out of my knee... Picked a doctor for an initial appointment, his secretary said she would get my xrays.

I turn up for the £300 initial ( 10 mins as it turned out ) appointment,
1) doctors got no xrays,
2) no questions asked
3) he seems surprised we turned up to waste his time and uninterested - at one point he waved a letter in the air and asked where we for that from
4) told to get a MRI
5) told to put ice on it (even though i said it did not hurt)

He seemed the most qualified at the practice (not that i know much about medical credentials)

Is this normal? is it the fact i'm dealing with the skilled surgeon that only cares about the end result? (i can understand he knows nothing until he sees the MRI) - but why not tell me to get an MRI before the visit

You going through insurance or paying yourself?

Who ordered / where did the x-ray get done?

 

[tom_e]

I had a recent knee thing go through my private insurance. First appointment was booked in, consultant phoned me on the day asked a couple of questions and said no point coming in because I'd have asked you this and then sent you for an MRI anyway (charged the insurance £200 for a 2 minute phone call).

Had my MRI then turned up to my next appointment with him 10 minutes most of that him dictating the letter that would be sent to me/insurance telling me there was nothing on the MRI that he could fix and he'd advise some physio (£220).

In his defence it was just an incredibly bad sprain that took 7 months to clear up.

I wish I could get that sort of hourly pay

 

[edscdk]

You going through insurance or paying yourself?

Who ordered / where did the x-ray get done?

paying myself, NHS xray, NHS MRI in 2 weeks, NHS initially gave me an appointment for end of august to even see anyone.. they last week moved it all forward (no specific reason and its not really that bad)

 

[Hodders]

Welcome to the world of private medicine.

Sadly this is pretty normal.

It's one of them many reasons the NHS should be cherished, looked after and funded properly.

 

[dowie]

It's one of them many reasons the NHS should be cherished, looked after and funded properly.

Most of these doctors work for the NHS too - they're the consultants you'll see when referred to a specialist (or sometimes you might see a registrar etc.. who works under them).

 

[koolpc]

Was he Albanian?

 

[edscdk]

I was having a weird issue with my throat in 2021 that was going on for quite a long time. NHS was being the NHS, so i decided to go private. Found a specialist near me that had seemingly good reviews, booked in and was told i had to go to a public hospital 30mins from me.

Turns out, its just an NHS docotor that does private work at the same time. I got seen straight away, while others were queing. That was about the only good thing.

He had a very similar attitude to the guy you saw, didn't seem to bothered at all, looked down my throat with a head mounted camera, told me there's nothing wrong and its probably stress... All to the tune of £280.

I managed to workout the issue and resolve it myself again, it wasn't stress.

Long story short, its not always better, you just get in quicker. Obviously there will be plenty of stories opposite to us, just my 2p.

worked it out yourself i love that! I had bad heart burn for 20 years (a few times a week).. was using ant-acid almost daily (gp said common issue blah)... watched a random YT video about acid reflux often being lack of acid not too much acid.. I now take apple cider vinegar daily and dont use ant-acid any more (fixed for 3 years) it also fixed an annoying twitch i some times got under my eye that was related to lack of stomach acid in a round about way..

 

[Raymond Lin]

I was having a weird issue with my throat in 2021 that was going on for quite a long time. NHS was being the NHS, so i decided to go private. Found a specialist near me that had seemingly good reviews, booked in and was told i had to go to a public hospital 30mins from me.

Turns out, its just an NHS docotor that does private work at the same time. I got seen straight away, while others were queing. That was about the only good thing.

He had a very similar attitude to the guy you saw, didn't seem to bothered at all, looked down my throat with a head mounted camera, told me there's nothing wrong and its probably stress... All to the tune of £280.

I managed to workout the issue and resolve it myself again, it wasn't stress.

Long story short, its not always better, you just get in quicker. Obviously there will be plenty of stories opposite to us, just my 2p.

A lot of private surgeons/consultants do a percentage of hours on the NHS so yeah, it can be the same person a lot of the times.

 

[D-Ranged]

worked it out yourself i love that! I had bad heart burn for 20 years (a few times a week).. was using ant-acid almost daily (gp said common issue blah)... watched a random YT video about acid reflux often being lack of acid not too much acid.. I now take apple cider vinegar daily and dont use ant-acid any more (fixed for 3 years) it also fixed an annoying twitch i some times got under my eye that was related to lack of stomach acid in a round about way..

It was a similar thing to that. There was clear damage to my throat from acid reflux. I had already changed my diet, tried alkaline water, elevated bed etc, to try and sort it out before I went to the private doctor, but ended hp being a mix of things I was able to workout and narrow down to the problem.

 

[Street]

Mine was excellent. I paid to have my knee sorted at the Spire after the NHS messed me around. From the initial consultation, to scan to surgery was just over month and that was only because I was away and had to delay it.

I'd originally gone to a sports physio who had worked with the surgeon at Liverpool FC, so he referred me and wrote him a comprehensive report. The MRI was a bit of a waste of money as the surgeon said it didn't really show him anything and he'd only know for certain when I was opened up.

 

[Narj]

You're really best off looking at topdoctors or doctify and reading reviews and looking at their credentials. That's how I've picked mine and I've never had a problem.

 

[Blackjack Davy]

Standard of care or experience(?) does seem to vary a heck had a similar issue with podiatry actually got told at the GP surgery not to bother with NHS and go private the chances of seeing anybody were basically non existent anyway saw umpteen different practitioners at the same clinic over time varied from caring but not really sure what was wrong to basically clip nails buff feet thanks very much and goodbye heres the bill till I finally got referred by the caring one to a senior practitioner who finally had a clue what was going on said it was a fungal nail infection and advised to get this new treatment which oddly enough you can only currently get on eBay... anyway it seems to have done the job which I'm very pleased about, touch wood. But yeah very mixed bag.

 

[tom_nieto]

Always go for the one with the whitest teeth and the best hair*.




*this in no way constitutes medical advice or any other kind of advice at all. Hope you can get your knee sorted.

 

[GGizmo]

I'm not sure the private doctors have access to NHS xrays, unless you was seeing that doctor on the NHS too.

 

[edscdk]

Just a follow up, after having concerns about the surgeon and the first visit, the visit after we had the mri was so much better.. The first visit where he told me to get an mri was billed at 250 not the advertised 300, we were not charged for the 2nd visit where he looked at the mri scan. The manor in Oxford was amazing.

 

[The_Arbiter]

I don't go to the GP much at all, but outside of the older experienced GPs i feel like most just are reading from a script. The older GPs i've seen tended to be straight up and down to earth. Whilst this opinion is based off a decade or so of visiting, it could just be plain wrong and they're all fed up now. NHS website says see GP, sees GP, GP not interested...

Knees suck, hope you get sorted OP.

 

[arknor]

I don't go to the GP much at all, but outside of the older experienced GPs i feel like most just are reading from a script. The older GPs i've seen tended to be straight up and down to earth. Whilst this opinion is based off a decade or so of visiting, it could just be plain wrong and they're all fed up now. NHS website says see GP, sees GP, GP not interested...

They only seem to work 3 day weeks now, so will have half as much experience

 

[Efour]

I met a GP here that believed i had a prophetic leg and no matter what I said told me I was American. My London accent and a elastic support sock I was wearing didn't look like real skin...no ****..?

I went in to ask for an extension to some antibiotics I was taking to clear up an infected ingrown toenail... Yum..

I asked him if I was on a hidden camera show after 5 minutes of mind blowing weirdness and unprofessionalism.

I've lost so much respect for medical professionals as I've gotten older.

That combined with the ones that Google your symptoms..... Reassuring.