Bupa Hospital Assesment

[PatriciaH]

Has anyone whos not a member of bupa paid to have an assesment? my son who has mild scoliosis (curvature of the spine ) has been seen by the national health hospital which didnt help (long story) if so did the bupa assesment help?
thanks , trish

[WendyS]

Not sure that I fully understand your question. Has your son actually undergone a private BUPA assessment yet or are you planning to have one in the light that the NHS assessment didn't seem to be satisfactory. Perhaps you could supply more details. If he's already had a BUPA assessment, how did the result differ from what happened with the NHS.

I'm not terribly familiar with the condition of scoliosis, but wonder whether some kind of regular physiotherapy would help this condition, or whether the services of a chiropractor would help him to keep his spine in as healthy a condition as possible.

[Trojanfarce]

Hi Patricia, I used to work for BUPA and not too long ago so I think my info should still be in date.
If you're looking to join BUPA for some form of treatment for your son, then I'm afraid he's very likely to be excluded for this condition as it already exists. The exception to this on the most part is if you or your husband/partner work for a large company that provide healthcare with BUPA (or any other PMI provider) as part of your package. In this case, no one on the policy gets underwritten and you should be able to get him to a specialist without too much trouble.
If you want to take your son for private traetment then obviously there's nothing stopping you forking out from your own pocket but it is very expensive. BUPA don't actually do assessments as such, but your GP would recommend a specialist based upon what's go on before. I'm guessing that with a spinal problem you're looking at x-rays, possibly an MRI, and then whatever a specialist thinks is right for your son.
But, as I said, it's expensive.
Hope this is of some help and not telling you what you already know.

[PatriciaH]

Hi, my son (21) has been to a NHS hospital refered to by his doctor who confirmed my son has mild scoliosis. when he went to hospital they x rayed his spine and when the doctor looked at them he said there was nothing wrong with his spine ? i have seen the x rays and you can see the curvature at the top of the spine . my sister is going to bupa today for a back problem- thing is i cant talk to her till tonight so i dont know if shes a member of bupa ! Im sure i heard a while ago you can pay for what i would call an assesment ,as hes had a lot of pain and lost a good bit of time off work he needs to get it sorted out.

[Trojanfarce]

BUPA do do (that just doesn't look right) assessment days for both men and women but they're more general health type checks - blood pressure, height/weight, diabetes, etc. At the end of these sessions you spend some time with a specialist to discuss anything that you feel you'd like to talk about. An assessment specifically for his condition, I'm pretty sure doesn't exist, as it would, in effect, be a consultation with a specialist. If he's already had x-rays, then the next thing a specialist would do would be an MRI which is considerably more detailed. At the end of the day, if you're not already covered, you'd be paying a lot of money out of your own pocket (or your son's)
Perhaps this will help some:
http://www.bupa.co.uk/wellness/