private medical insurance

[Connemmara]

Hi - I waited 4 weeks ago in a NHS Casualty hospital for attention for 6 and half hours with a broken shoulder - now I am considering paying monthly for private care - anybody help me where and how to go about this - thank you. I know of a case of a little girl who waited 10 hours after a minor car accident - I know this is part of the cuts but I could not stand waiting in A&E for that amount of time ever again.

[mccfluff]

Hi Conn,

you still end in A&E for accidents, PMI is for scheduled ops etc. there are lots of companies out there but you need to remember that they will ask for your med history and exclusion for treatment may apply

[Jemisa]

Is there a private hospital with an A & E Dept.? Near you If so how far away is it?
I think you will still have to go to an NHS hospital but be shunted up the front if you wave your BUPA card.
Most private hospitals can't cope with a Real emergency (Heart troubles) and have you transferred to an NHS one because they haven't got the equipment.
Do your research first.

jem

[mccfluff]

sorry jem but i have never heard of a&e giving priority to pmi, i always thought it was dealt with accordingly to the severity of the injury. certainly when i worked for a PMI company this wasn't how it worked. - aftercare maybe.

[redcrx]

my parents have PMI and my dad has been to A&E a couple of times and never found himself any further on in the queue than he should be.

[China Doll]

You don't get put to the front. There are already 4 hour targets in A&E and obviously severity of injury/illness would be the rule of thumb for prioritising. You might eventually get a private ward and presumably you would arrange any follow ups privately.

[DEN53]

Exactly what Jem and Fluffy have said, Conne - Private Healthcare doesn't cover
A & E - you don't jump the queue having private health insurance. I have private health cover and have had 4 operations under this scheme. Though if you had a life threatening condition arise after having the op in private, they would transfer you to a NHS hospital that had more facilities.

[Bbbananas]

I beg to differ, but a NHS hospital will NOT give priority to people who have private medical insurance - and so should they not.

A&E attendances are triaged - with priority given to the worst injuries, the most serious problems etc.

There are still some things in life that money cannot buy, and thankfully this still applies in A&E departments in NHS hospitals.

[Bbbananas]

(I mean to differ with Jem that is... the rest of us are in agreement).

conne - you said it yourself, it was a minor accident. If it were a major accident and this little girl had major injuries, then it would have been a different matter.

[tamborine]

PMI's escorted by private hospital staff go straight into an A&E booth without queueing in waiting room. Same for xrays, ime

[tamborine]

Same fast-track for hospital staff

[redcrx]

"PMI's escorted by private hospital staff " do you mean those transported from a private hospital and already under care of medical staff?

[tamborine]

If patient is booked into private hospital, quoting insurance etc, & needs A&E they are escorted by the PH ambulance to NHS & fast tracked thru. My OH had this often.

I work at the hospital & colleagues get same.

[Bbbananas]

They may not have to sit with the riff-raff tambo, but do they actually get seen any sooner? I think it's just a case that they have a prettier comfier waiting room and don't have to mingle with the minions.....

[mccfluff]

but that is not the same as going to A&E after being in an accident and expecting faster service because you have PMI, its a diff situation

[tamborine]

They dont have special waiting rooms for pmi's but are slotted into same booths & dealt with quicker so staff can return to PH. There's a bill sent to private insurance for any treatment.

[redcrx]

So Connemara, if unfortunate to break shoulder again, should book into a private hospital and then ask them to escort her to A&E so she can be seen quicker? :)

[tamborine]

or get a voluntary job at local hospital :)

[Sqad]

A&E is a complete lottery and needs a complete overhaul due to the abuse by patients and this will get worse.......this is not due to any cuts as it has been the same for 50 years.

Most, but not all Private Hospitals will not accept casualties.

I a Private Patient goes to NHS casualty he takes his/her chance with the rest of them.

If you can afford private health care then take it.

[tamborine]

beg to differ sqad - my OH was admitted to ph, received private consultant & treatment at NHS hospital for eye injury then returned to ph to recover.

[Sqad]

tambo....OK....that is unusual but possible due to the policy of the Consultant concerned.