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the patient Patient

Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2018 3:12 am
by _subgenius
patient who faced a 16-month wait for surgery on his knees has revealed that he paid £13,000 to have a replacement operation done privately.

https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/ ... -1-4748864

Rick Loup first saw his GP in May last year with suspected osteoarthritis in both knees. He was told he could pay £160 for a private outpatient appointment which led the consultant who saw him to write to his GP saying he required replacement knee surgery. However, Loup later discovered to his “horror” that he was still on the waiting list for an outpatient diagnosis appointment after being told that NHS Lothian no longer accepted referrals from private surgeons. By November,the 60-year-old from Edinburgh decided he could no longer bear the pain and paid to have his right knee replaced privately. Ironically, according to Loup the same surgeon who carried out the procedure would have operated on him if he’d waited to get it done on the NHS.

is this an indicative event for NHS?

The UK is not a terribly large population, how is this still happening in that system?

Re: the patient Patient

Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2018 5:02 pm
by _Doctor Steuss
subgenius wrote:patient who faced a 16-month wait for surgery on his knees has revealed that he paid £13,000 to have a replacement operation done privately.

Wowza. It's been a few years, but the last cash quote I got was $38K. I wouldn't be surprised if TKR is pushing the $50K mark now in the US.

Price shock has been a wondrous anesthetic.