Private Healthcare for kids?

OneTwoOrThree

My husband and I both have private healthcare thru my employer with (I think) a good premium. I can cover my 2 year old for an additional 11.50 per month. Any thoughts on whether or not this is worthwhile?

I like the peace of mind this would give me, but also wonder if most kids treatment is best done on NHS and/or there are limited waiting lists for kids treatment??

Any thoughts / comments welcome

Thanks, from a newbie!!

dmg24

I honestly don't think that you need private healthcare for children. Chances are that you would see the same consultant as you would in the NHS, and waiting lists for essential treatment are not long in childrens services. In fact, for more serious conditions it is quite possible that you would be seen more quickly in the NHS.

OneTwoOrThree

Thanks for the quick reply, that's kind of what I was thinking - particularly for a young toddler. Just out of curiosity, what age do ou think kids need added to private healthcare? Perhaps when they become teenagers and would potentially suffer from 'adult' problems / be treated in an adult hospital as opposed to kids specialist hospital?

clairehi

childrens hearing tests are one thing that i know people have gone private for recently as NHS waiting lists so long. maybe because not seen as urgent, but could cause real problems with school etc if not dealt with. speech and language therapy also difficult to get quickly on nhs.
many years ago DHs parents paid for him to have squint corrected as would have taken so long on NHS.
as they say, insurance is something you have that you hope you will never use

Errata

TBH - I'd take up the offer. That way you have a choice of both NHS and private, whichever is most suitable for whatever has gone wrong.

seraphina

One thing I would consider it for is that it might cover a room to enable you to stay with your child when they are in hospital.

MX5huggy

Do you ever NEED Health insurance? The new gov has scraped the 18 week wait but generally that is the limit for treatment starting on the NHS.

My wife paid for an ultrasound on a suspected kidney stone because she chose not to wait it cost £300 a lot less than years of premiums she had X rays and CT on the NHS 2 weeks later. Non of it showed anything.

The difference with a private ultrasound is the gel is warmed before use!

galvanizersbaby

I have private healthcare for my 2 children as my employer offered it when they were born at not too much increase to the premium.

My daughter (6) is just about to put it to the test as she has a rare condition on one of her feet so I asked to be referred privately.

I have never used the healthcare policy for either of them prior to this (DS is 8) I don't consider it an essential just a nice to have - not having to wait for an appointment.

**curlywurly**

I would go for it. I have it. I have used it twice with my daughter. I have seen a consultant within hours, in a beautiful modern hospital. I won't go into the details of it, but when I tried to have the issue dealt with on the NHS I was told "maybe you will get an appointment in 6 months" and another doctor told me "it will go away by itself". It turned into a battle of wills. As soon as BUPA was mentioned, it was dealt with swiftly and efficiently. For £11 a month, I would consider that a bargain, just for the peace of mind. A colleague used her insurance, not sure what for. She stayed overnight in the hospital with DD, in a private room. You get the same doctors, generally, as you would with the NHS. But no wait, no fuss, you are treated efficiently, the hospitals are nicer, and the standard of care (ie, how they treat you, not the medical treatment itself) is higher.

hermanmunster_3

bear in mind that most private hospitals won't take children as inpatients as they do not have the cover / staffing levels - so inpatient care tends to be in NHS hospitals.
Private care is OK for outpatients (eg orthopaedics) although it may not cover investigations. You will be paying 132 / year - have to think if you would use that sort if amount or better to pay for the odd thing yourself.
The waiting lists on the NHS are short - booked a child into see a paediatrician last week - routine appointment was 6 days....

dawnybabes

We have private care for DS and when we saw a doctor he couldn't treat us privately anyway for the investigations so bounced us back to the NHS - but we will need more tests soon and can bypass some of it. Personally for £11 a month I'd take it.