changing hospitals for shorter waiting times for surgery

Hi All


Has anyone had any experience of asking to be referred to another hospital for nhs treatment whilst still on waiting list at another hospital ?

I’m a patient at BMI hospital, for another issue as an NHS patient ,and have been asked by a nurse there ,why I wasn’t having my knee surgery at BMI hospital as they are now doing elective surgery’s again .

The nurse told me I could ring my consultant secretary ask if they could send my referral to them and tell them I was fed up of waiting To have my knee replaced

I wondered if it was this easy to do or whether I should speak to my GP before deciding as I’ve never experienced this

My local hospital are saying they cannot resume elective surgery due to covid and they don’t know when they will be able to again at this moment in time just thought I’d ask people their thoughts on whether this would be a viable option for me.

Ive not been seen now for 7 months and my Arthiritis is getting worse .


Thanks Julie 😊

Comments

  • frogmorton
    frogmorton Member Posts: 29,332
    edited 14. Jul 2020, 11:50

    What's stopping you Julie? Something is...Is it in case you offend your local NHS hospital or whether you are queue jumping for example???

    My gut feeling is what have you got to loose looking into it? Maybe have that chat to your GP first????

  • Lilymary
    Lilymary Member Posts: 1,740

    I was originally referred to my local hospital for hip replacement and asked my muscular-skeletal consultant to change the referral to the Wrightington hospital as they specialise in this surgery. He was completely relaxed about it.

  • stickywicket
    stickywicket Member Posts: 27,697

    I had to look up BMI. It seems they are a private chain of hospitals. It’s possible that the nurse thought you were a private patient there.

    Just before the shutdown my husband got a new hip in a private hospital as an NHS patient. He was referred by our local NHS hospital as (a)they couldn’t fit him in within the requisite time and (b)his wasn’t expected to be a difficult operation. But we’re in Scotland which might make a difference. As will Covid19.

    It makes sense to me that some hospitals are more able to safely open up again than others.

    Your GP might be able to explain better to you what the situation is where you are and whether or not you can simply transfer your NHS surgery to a private hospital while remaining an NHS patient. The downside for the NHS, in my husband’s case, was that they were the ones having to pay the private hospital. Obviously, it’s cheaper to do these electives ‘in house’ but, for that, you need enough consultants, nurses and theatre time.

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