pot for a private consultation

plmb48

my heart is breaking reading Vonskis post
i am not very good at explaining myself but here goes
i was treated for 2 years for gout but i got fedup and beged friends to lend me money and i went privately to a reumy and found out in one week that i had RA my question is could we start a fund to help people go privatly just the once for real diagnosois .They could pay it back when they can i cant see anyone robbing our fund
i wouldnt know how to start this ball rolling but some peeps on this furum would its just an idea i would like to help people whose DR cant be bothered to think past their computer DRafter all know a little about lots of things but this illness needs spescial knowleage bye for now pauline xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

mistywillow

plmb48 wrote:

my heart is breaking reading Vonskis post
i am not very good at explaining myself but here goes
i was treated for 2 years for gout but i got fedup and beged friends to lend me money and i went privately to a reumy and found out in one week that i had RA my question is could we start a fund to help people go privatly just the once for real diagnosois .They could pay it back when they can i cant see anyone robbing our fund
i wouldnt know how to start this ball rolling but some peeps on this furum would its just an idea i would like to help people whose DR cant be bothered to think past their computer DRafter all know a little about lots of things but this illness needs spescial knowleage bye for now pauline xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

That is such a nice idea. I am sure it can be done and I would imagine there are some people on here who could advise about fund raising/ charities or whatever. Sometimes our NHS is brilliant but sometimes it really lets people down. Someone posted the other day that her appointment with her rheumy was cancelled and by the time she gets to see him/her it will be 12 months after her diagnosis of RA which is totally unacceptable!!
Gillxx

angel1

Reading your post Pauline made me realise why I love this forum. What a lovely person you are.


Maybe you could have a word with the moderators, and see if they have any suggestions.......Ange.

woodbon

I think its a great idea. A sort of 'get the ball rolling - sorting things out type of appointment. Its never crossed my mind, although I have had private treatment, transferred from NHS in the same hospital, but I don't have the insurance now.

I don't know about the laws but I do know enough to say that they seem quite complicated. Perhaps someone on here knows something about that side of things. Love Sue

lindalegs

Hi Pauline,

I agree with everyone else that this is a great idea but logistically I can't see how it would work.

We could all donate into a pot for private treatment but we are a relatively small forum and I think the 'pot' would soon be in the red.

How would you qualify - would you let anyone new to the site who hadn't put in any money take out for private consultation or would you only allow people to take out if they'd put into it?

Unfortunately this isn't an ideal world and we would all love to help each other but some things are beyond us as mere mortals.

Sorry for being negative

Luv Legs who sometimes puts a damper on things

joanlawson

Hi Pauline

My experience was the opposite of yours. I paid out a lot of money to see a private consultant, but felt I wasn't getting anywhere. On the last occasion I saw him, he never even looked at my knee, even though I was telling him how swollen and painful it was. When I realised that I had paid another £90 just to be told " keep taking the tablets",I decided to go back to the NHS. The new NHS consultant didn't hesitate to say that I needed surgery, and he wondered why I hadn't been told that previously.

Your idea is prompted by the best intentions, but any fund like this has to be carefully administered to make sure it is used in the right way. That costs money, so I don't think it would be possible.

I am staying with the NHS in future. I know some people are unlucky in their consultant, but in general I think we get good treatment.

Joan

skezier

Hi Pauline,

Its a very good idea but it couldn't work. If it became a charitable thing it would need a committee, chairman, a treasurer etc and a constitution. They (technically) have to be adhered to no matter what so the wording would have to be very carefully thought out as (technically) no exceptions can be made outside of the constitution. If it were a pot and in we put money in, someone would have to run it, and again there would have to be some kind of criteria etc for all of it.

We'd have to come up with all kinds of 'rules' simular to a constitution/ committee etc and find someone who would take on that commitment and responsibility. If we went for fund raising as well as donations we'd have to have people to fund raise, and at the moment it is very hard to do that and well though its motivated, as Joan said, by the best intentions it honestly couldn't work. It would be great if it could.

Take care Cris who just chucked a bowser of water on it (sorry) x

joyful164

The idea is a good idea made with the best intentions, but I must agree with Joan on this one.

How would you be able to choose (and this is just a hypothetical situation) between two well meaning worthy cases who needed a private consultation. We would need at least 100 donations of £10 each to get the system on the road. I would like to go private myself, but I wouldn't be able to afford to keep putting £10 into the kitty especially since becoming a pensioner.

I think we all have our experiences of being frustrated at the system, and I believe that if we were all to write to our MP's and maybe get others to do the same, we might make an impact that way.

One has to be careful too. In some cases, if you decide to go private for confirmation of your condition, you may find yourself landed with a big bill for medication, which could be in the region of several £1ks. If you are in a NHS Trust area that is in the red.
I think it would be worth getting the views of the moderator on this one, because I believe that all our treatments have to be cleared for payment by our GP practices and if it is felt that you can afford to go private, could make a difference to what you have to pay for yourself. I need clarification on this one.

Like Joan, I had a similar experience about 12 years ago now. I was having problems with my neck. I went to a chiropractitioner who told me that I had possible crumbling bones, his words. I went to my GP who said the only way was to have an xray, but the quickest way was to go private so he wrote to our local private hospital. I paid £78 for the xray and £120 to hear that, "no there were no 'crumbling bones' but an exposed nerve, or trapped nerve whatever. If my GP had sent me to a Rheumatology consultant instead, I may not have been as bad as I am now.

Sorry if I have rambled on a bit, but I am tryingto be realistic

joyful

elnafinn

A very sensitive and beautiful idea, Pauline, but unfortunately it would be far too complicated, a charity would have to be set etc, etc. I am sure if people wish to go privately, for whatever reason, they can the borrow money, some way or other.

You are indeed a lovely, caring person for having the thought cross your mind to help others you have never met on this forum and to have felt so strongly about it, to have posted.

Love
Elna x(())

taboo66

I agree lovely idea but i have private health care with my husbands work,i tend to not mention it because while i would have waited 8 months to see consultant on the nhs i only had to wait a week to see same person.sometimes i feel guilty when so much are suffering on here.
Just to see the consultant it is £180 and god knows how much all the other stuff costs MRI scans etc.When i last went last week he even said when would you like your arthroscopys,had to wait 3 weeks because he is on holiday.Wonder how long it would have been,seems money or health insurance talks.

I do go on another website which does a similar thing for wounded soldiers,they send them on holiday to spain with their families.Its not a charity its purely between the people on the website.It doesnt have to have charity status,if done by just a group of people.There are a group of people though who work really hard keeping it together and going but this is a really big site and i dont think there are enough people on here to keep it going if something like that were to happen.

Di x

plmb48

plmb48 wrote:

my heart is breaking reading Vonskis post
i am not very good at explaining myself but here goes
i was treated for 2 years for gout but i got fedup and beged friends to lend me money and i went privately to a reumy and found out in one week that i had RA my question is could we start a fund to help people go privatly just the once for real diagnosois .They could pay it back when they can i cant see anyone robbing our fund
i wouldnt know how to start this ball rolling but some peeps on this furum would its just an idea i would like to help people whose DR cant be bothered to think past their computer DRafter all know a little about lots of things but this illness needs spescial knowleage
bye for now pauline xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

thankyou for all your replys i knew it would not be easy and you have all pointed out many pit falls in my idea i just get so frustated reading posts were people are waiting and waiting just to get a diagnosis back to the drawing board x :roll: :roll: :roll: pauline

woodbon

I've been sitting here thinking :shock: It is a wonderful idea, but would be very hard to arrange. People sometimes manage on a small scale to raise money for special treatment, but its a one off. On the other hand, up until 13 years ago, I lived in Oxford, their is a convent of C of E Nunns their. One day a very a dying child was taken to the convent by her perants who couldn't manage any more and just wanted a short break, they begged the senior sister find somewhere they could leave their child for a few days break. The nunn was a trained nurse, they looked after elderly, and she agreed to take the child for the week-end. The outcome of all this was the first childrens hospice in the country, with modern design and trained staff. All I'm trying to say is that sometimes it is possible for a small group of people to do something that changes the lives of so many people. Sorry to waffle on. Love Sue

frogmorton

Sue
I didn't know that story - it was lovely! and so inspiring - great trees from little acorns grow......... or something like that!
Pauline
that is a lovely idea. I can see the pitfalls too, but i would still run your idea by the mods and get some advice. Maybe there is already something out there? We just don't know about it?
Take care
Toni x

vonski

Hi Pauline

What a lovely idea, just wish there was a way we could make it work. Might have to toss a few ideas around and see if we can come up with anything. Like the others have said it would be very hard though.

Love
Vonski x