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Four Weeks Later
Nov. 21st, 2011 01:39 pmIt was exactly four weeks ago I had my operation. I'm not quite back to normal, whatever that is, but I'm getting there.
Curiously, I just received through the post a brochure from the local private hospital telling me I could pay to have an operation there. A bit late, that.
Here's what I think happened. I saw the consultant at the NHS hospital on 12th August, so just over 14 weeks ago. I suspect at that time someone gave my name to the private hospital. Maybe even the consultant himself. As my brother had had the same operation done privately a few years ago, and my sister was suggesting I go private, I had asked about this and the consultant did say he also performed operations at the private hospital. (I had idly wondered if the money I saved by not going to Worldcon this year would pay for the operation. For the record, the brochure gave the cost of my operation at £5,700, which is nearly three times what I normally pay to go to Worldcon.)
The NHS deadline for non-urgent operations is 18 weeks, but I read recently in the paper that this often means that they don't even consider you for the operation before 11 weeks, and they often don't make the 18 week deadline. So, after 14 weeks, the private hospital lets you know they are there, hoping that by this time, you are so desperate that you'll turn to them.
But, in my case, as I'm retired the NHS put me on their second list - of those people who can come in for the operation at the drop of a hat, and I think this is what happened. So I got my operation done after just ten weeks, and this information didn't get to the private hospital. Anyway, the private hospital is right the other side of town, whereas the NHS hospital is just across the road. Still, I know who to go to next time.
Curiously, I just received through the post a brochure from the local private hospital telling me I could pay to have an operation there. A bit late, that.
Here's what I think happened. I saw the consultant at the NHS hospital on 12th August, so just over 14 weeks ago. I suspect at that time someone gave my name to the private hospital. Maybe even the consultant himself. As my brother had had the same operation done privately a few years ago, and my sister was suggesting I go private, I had asked about this and the consultant did say he also performed operations at the private hospital. (I had idly wondered if the money I saved by not going to Worldcon this year would pay for the operation. For the record, the brochure gave the cost of my operation at £5,700, which is nearly three times what I normally pay to go to Worldcon.)
The NHS deadline for non-urgent operations is 18 weeks, but I read recently in the paper that this often means that they don't even consider you for the operation before 11 weeks, and they often don't make the 18 week deadline. So, after 14 weeks, the private hospital lets you know they are there, hoping that by this time, you are so desperate that you'll turn to them.
But, in my case, as I'm retired the NHS put me on their second list - of those people who can come in for the operation at the drop of a hat, and I think this is what happened. So I got my operation done after just ten weeks, and this information didn't get to the private hospital. Anyway, the private hospital is right the other side of town, whereas the NHS hospital is just across the road. Still, I know who to go to next time.
