Private Healthcare - your thoughts?

cambsno

cambsno

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Not in a political sense but in general. New job means I don't get it as standard ( I can get it if i want but will cost me around £65 a month - around 15% cheaper than buying direct. Had it with 3 out of 5 previous jobs as a perk (although pay tax on the benefit). Wife thinks I should, I think I shouldn't!

Sods law means I take it and never use it, or I don't take it and need something doing, but my view is the NHS (with all its faults and issues) is a great system and I genuinely can't see compelling reasons to get it. I am lucky to live 10 miles from Addenbrokes/Papworth which are highly regarded and although just the wrong side of 45 have not been to hospital since in 35 years, bar possibly one AE trip on a bruised spine! If I was to get a serious issue like cancer/heart attack, the NHS care is excellent, but where it is useful could be for things like a hip replacement which would be quicker privately.

Is my understanding correct on this? Seen quicker and private rooms rather than a ward, but serious care will be no better? Of course it gives some peace of mind, and who knows what could happen in the next year or few, but keen to hear from people with more knowledge on the subject and if my assumptions make sense?
 
Having been butchered several times by the NHS and then finally put in a wheelchair due to their incompetence, I wouldn't hesitate to go private if I had my time over again. I'm too old now, so the cost would be horrendous - I'd suggest you take advantage while you're young enough.

Oh, they also killed my mother . . .
 
On the other hand, I paid for BUPA for a number of years then the one time I used it for an elective procedure, I had to pay about 30% in excesses and things not covered. Since when I have had that same procedure at a cost of circa £2.5k each time about 5 times privately, paying the bill myself, and seen a private consultant a few times again pay as you go, such that overall I think I saved money against paying for BUPA. I last had that procedure done on the NHS, locally, and was fortunate enough to get a consultant referral appointment within 2 weeks on a Saturday, a CT scan within a further 2 weeks, and the op 2 weeks later (ENT), and it was the most successful of the 7 times I've had it, with no recurrence of the problem now after nearly 4 years (it was usually coming back after 6-12 months). So I would say self-insure: put the insurance premiums into an ISA for the rainy day when you need to pay for something to get the treatment you want when you want it, otherwise NHS.
 
Which ever way you look at it; insurance is just a tax on poor people. ;)
 
Sky said:
Having been butchered several times by the NHS and then finally put in a wheelchair due to their incompetence, I wouldn't hesitate to go private if I had my time over again. I'm too old now, so the cost would be horrendous - I'd suggest you take advantage while you're young enough.

Oh, they also killed my mother . . .
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You must be worth a fortune then?
 
cambsno said:
Not in a political sense but in general. New job means I don't get it as standard ( I can get it if i want but will cost me around £65 a month - around 15% cheaper than buying direct. Had it with 3 out of 5 previous jobs as a perk (although pay tax on the benefit). Wife thinks I should, I think I shouldn't!

Sods law means I take it and never use it, or I don't take it and need something doing, but my view is the NHS (with all its faults and issues) is a great system and I genuinely can't see compelling reasons to get it. I am lucky to live 10 miles from Addenbrokes/Papworth which are highly regarded and although just the wrong side of 45 have not been to hospital since in 35 years, bar possibly one AE trip on a bruised spine! If I was to get a serious issue like cancer/heart attack, the NHS care is excellent, but where it is useful could be for things like a hip replacement which would be quicker privately.

Is my understanding correct on this? Seen quicker and private rooms rather than a ward, but serious care will be no better? Of course it gives some peace of mind, and who knows what could happen in the next year or few, but keen to hear from people with more knowledge on the subject and if my assumptions make sense?
Click to expand...

Half the time it's the same Doctors, you just get seen quicker and get a private room.
 
Had it for over 30 years and used it 6/7 times for non- urgent stuff. Wouldn’t be without it. Always see a consultant, Own room, decent food and ability to choose convenient times. Some stuff not available from NHS is privately e.g. some cancer drugs and some stuff no longer offered by NHS but is privately.
Cover can be a minefield but bear in mind more and more things can be done on an out-patient or day case basis so don’t skimp on that cover. Most policies cover full inpatient treatment.
 
Wish I could afford private insurance again. One call and you get a specialist consultant appointment at your pleasure, normally within days. Then operation arranged around my commitments, a private room , good food & consultant only surgery (no letting your registrar practice his art). Great after care, physio from day of release.

Now waited 6 months to see an NHS consultant (if i am lucky) and knee replacement surgery currently has 6-9 months waiting list. Physio will be as outpatient and probably weeks after release. OH how I miss BUPA !!!

Please do not read this as an advertisement for private care, I would dearly love the NHS to be as good ! (not a political statement, simply demand will always outstrip availability in my humble opinion)
 
Sky said:
Having been butchered several times by the NHS and then finally put in a wheelchair due to their incompetence, I wouldn't hesitate to go private if I had my time over again. I'm too old now, so the cost would be horrendous - I'd suggest you take advantage while you're young enough.

Oh, they also killed my mother . . .
Click to expand...

My experiences of the NHS have been entirely the opposite. If it hadn't been for the NHS I would not be here.
 
I think with the coronavirus, there will be huge delays in routine NHS work. That alone might be worth the private option. One neighbour was waiting a year to see a neurologist. Then COVID happened and her appointment has been pushed back another six months!

The only issue I could foresee being a problem is that, round here, most of the private consultants work for the NHS. If they’re told to work extra for the NHS and clear backlogs, they might not be as readily available for private work.
 
KitsuneAndy said:
Half the time it's the same Doctors, you just get seen quicker and get a private room.
Click to expand...

I was waiting for a hernia operation which was well past the then NHS time limit, and was referred to a private hospital for the op. It was done the following week by the same consultant that I had been seeing at the NHS hospital. The NHS picked up the tab.

Private care works well for elective surgery. However it rarely covers chronic or procedures for existing or life threatening illnesses. where you almost always find yourself reliant on the NHS.
The Nhs ends up clearing up Private surgery mistakes. or when procedures cost more than the insurance covers.

However paying to see a consultant privately speeds up subsequent procedures in the NHS.
 
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Terrywoodenpic said:
The Nhs ends up clearing up Private surgery mistakes. or when procedures cost more than the insurance covers.
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All the evidence I've seen indicates that the private medicine sector is parasitic on the NHS. When things go wrong, private patients are shunted into the NHS and the taxpayer picks up the bill. I know there was a proposal to require private practioners and hospitals to carry very large liability insurance policies with a "no excuse" claims procedure at one time. It seems that the Labour government procrastinated until events killed off the idea.
 
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