If you have private medical insurance

[bridge too far]

You might read this article with some alarm

 

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/oct/28/mid-staffordshire-private-hospitals-fail

[CB Saint]

At least I will battle with faulty equipment and mrsa in the comfort of my own room with decent food and free tv

[buctootim]

At least I will battle with faulty equipment and mrsa in the comfort of my own room with decent food and free tv

 

Unfortunately thats how most people assess a hospital. Complications, morbidity and mortality rates rarely get a look in.

[Give it to Ron]

You might read this article with some alarm

 

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/oct/28/mid-staffordshire-private-hospitals-fail

 

Why should I be alarmed - have had several operations performed at private hospitals - one including replacing half my knee - something not possible on NHS without many years wait.

Spire and Nuffield have both been excellent in Southampton.

In fact my mum even had her hip replaced within 2 months at the Spire on NHS using chose and book where the NHS hospital couldnt give her an appointment for 8 months.

Good and bad in every industry.

[bridge too far]

So you're not worried by that article, Ron and by the fact that private hospitals don't have to meet the criteria as NHS hospitals do? I would be very, very worried.

 

I can't fault the exemplary treatment I had 10 days ago from the ambulance crew to hospital treatment at an NHS hospital.

 

My concern would be, as an NHS patient, if I was sent to a private hospital that has a contract with the NHS. Mr TF was sent to a Spire hospital a couple of years ago for a knee op on the NHS - his treatment nowhere near matched mine.

[CB Saint]

The NHS is often described as the third rail of British politics - touch it at your peril. It's the same on TSW where BTF is concerned

[buctootim]

The NHS is often described as the third rail of British politics - touch it at your peril. It's the same on TSW where BTF is concerned

 

Its not that. Its the fact that private hospitals are usually fine for routine 'conveyor belt' operations with a low risk of complication. The trouble is they don't have the facilities or backup that are standard at an NHS hospital. If anything goes wrong they will be calling an ambulance and transferring you to the local district general - maybe half an hour until you get treated for that stroke or heart attack instead of three minutes from the in house NHS hospital crash team.

[Give it to Ron]

So you're not worried by that article, Ron and by the fact that private hospitals don't have to meet the criteria as NHS hospitals do? I would be very, very worried.

 

I can't fault the exemplary treatment I had 10 days ago from the ambulance crew to hospital treatment at an NHS hospital.

 

My concern would be, as an NHS patient, if I was sent to a private hospital that has a contract with the NHS. Mr TF was sent to a Spire hospital a couple of years ago for a knee op on the NHS - his treatment nowhere near matched mine.

 

Really I find that very odd....not dissing what you are saying but as I said my mum did NHS in a private hospital paid by NHS and had nothing but praise for the way she was treated. The food, cleanliness, respect etc its like a hotel - compared to my daughter that was rushed in the other year who was left on a ward and hardly had a visit from the poor downtrodden nurses.

I am not knocking the NHS they put me back together after I was the victim of a hit and run but between SGH and the Nuffield/Spire there is nocomparison IMO.

[Window Cleaner]

The Health Service, Peter Principle at it's finest.

[bridge too far]

Really I find that very odd....not dissing what you are saying but as I said my mum did NHS in a private hospital paid by NHS and had nothing but praise for the way she was treated. The food, cleanliness, respect etc its like a hotel - compared to my daughter that was rushed in the other year who was left on a ward and hardly had a visit from the poor downtrodden nurses.

I am not knocking the NHS they put me back together after I was the victim of a hit and run but between SGH and the Nuffield/Spire there is nocomparison IMO.

 

I'm glad your mother had a good experience. I'm coming at this not from a principled 'knock the private medical provision angle' but rather from the fact that private hospitals are not scrutinised in the same way as NHS hospitals are. You would be amazed at the amount of examination, clinical governance and compliance the NHS is subjected to and, it seems, private hospitals aren't. I well remember, years ago it's true, when the instrument sterilising facility at a Hampshire hospital broke down. We approached local private hospitals but their instrument sterilisation processes didn't meet the required standard.