Beneden Healthcare Society

bapp

Hi,
Is annyone a member of Beneden Healthcare Society and or used its services.

It is non-profit organisation offering an alternative to health insurance to public sector workers.

Would you recommend this?

The website is https://www.benenden.org.uk.

Bapp

dianasnan

I have used them and so has my daughter and they were excellent. Basically if the wait on the NHS is unacceptable you can contact Beneden and they will arrange up to 2 private consultant visits for you.You pay the fees and they reinburse you very promptly.You do have to contact them for their agreement before contacting a consultant.

If you need an op they have their own hospital in Kent or they use many locally based private hospitals.
there are a few conditions that are not covered and there is a 6 months waiting period before you can use their facilities so check their web site but for what they charge I have found that it was excellent value for money and a good back up to the NHS for elective surgery.You can also add a lot of family members.

Its not the same as BUPA but I could choose when to go in to hospital for my convenience.

bapp

Sorry I forget to mention that the cost is £1.10 a month.

crispeater

i too am a member of beneden and have used them in order to have a scan done.
i went to a nuffield hospital and beneden sent me payment to send to the nuffield.

both my children are also members

Marsh_Samphire

I'm a member too and they paid for me to have 2 private consultations with a rheumatologist which saved me 6 months of pain waiting for the nhs appointment. They paid up promptly too.

cuffie

Same here...

Got 2 private consultations (I think initial consultation and tests up to £450 is covered)for my little boy to see whether he needed to have grommets in his ears (one before and one after at BUPA hosp). Went to the hospital in Kent (hotel nearby so that you can stay with the child the night before if necessary)... Had op in Kent. Apparantly they use "swimming grommets" so my little boy could go swimming (apparantly some other surgeons don't recommend swimming at all, or not without hat/earplugs anyway), but our son was fine and grommets still in and fine 18 months on. Now have the follow up appointments with the same BUPA doctor we saw initially but now on the NHS !!

Going through the whole process again with my little girl next week!!

NAR

Both I and my wife are members. I managed to arrange a private consultation for my wife within days of her visiting her doctor. Beneden paid up within a week of receiving our claim. Can't speak highly enough of them.

ashellis

I have used Beneden alot, thanks to my dad's membership. I have had MRI scans,CT scans etc, and also had an op at their hospital in Kent.
I would definately recommend signing up to them, the little monthly charge is nothing to the treatment you would get if (hopefully you won't!!) you use their services.
I waited 2 days for my scans etc,and was followed up by top doctors in their fields. I feel you get so much,for such a small cost.
I wouldn't want to go NHS again!! For me the hospitals etc sent the bill straight to Beneden, so i didn't have to pay out anything.
You can also choose if you want to go through their people (usually the best in the area), or you can choose someone local. I have always gone for their own people and never waited more than a couple of days for an appointment.
Cannot praise enough ( as you can probably tell!!)

bootman

I am glad this has been posted, we are currently covered under a BUPA scheme through my husbands work. The tax liability is 40% of the cost being £1200. We have never had cause to use it so is costing us a fortune.

I work for a school so qualify to join. I think we shall be asking his employer to opt him out of BUPA and we shall just pay this directly ourselves.

I don't think we can get this paid via his employer?

bapp

Thanks for your replies.
It sounds that this is a decent cheap way to improve your medical service when you need it. For £1.10 per week it is cheap.

I think I sign up to this for myself and my fiancé.

Thanks

Bapp

dianasnan

I had to stay in longer than anticipated and the Hospital told me that they never have any problems with Beneden when applying for extra days if required.

Must make it clear that we paid upfront for the consultants fees then claimed them back (very promptly reinsbursed) but that the hospital dealt directly with Beneden.