can you chose your hospital for surgery?

littlerock

OH needs an operation following a scan as part of an NHS screening programme. The screening was at a local health care centre. Unfortunately the hospital running the programme, where he would have expected to have the operation, was rated inadequate fon many fronts following an urgent inspection last year. It was put into emergency special measures 3 months ago. Criticisms included standard of operating theatres and infection control procedures.

Can he choose somewhere else to have the operation, given the need for an OP was identified by an NHS screening programme and not a GP referral?

teddysmum

I don't know whether you can choose, but imagine the hospital would have to be in your own health authority's boundary.


If the recent series of 4 tv programmes, about the struggles in London NHS hospitals , shows situations which are nationally representative,then choice may be very limited or not even available. The hospitals featured even have problems doing operations which are urgent or though very serious have been put off numerous times, just from their own lists.

Nile

teddysmum wrote: »

I don't know whether you can choose, but imagine the hospital would have to be in your own health authority's boundary.

Hi littlerock

It's worth trying to choose a hospital further afield, with a better rating. I've been successful twice, choosing a hospital outside my local health authority boundary. Although it involves a long car journey, I feel it's well worth it. I'm seen by a consultant within 3 weeks of seeing my GP and the operation is shortly afterwards too.

This is NHS treatment.

Good luck.

Nile

sheramber

Choosing your hospital in England

http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/patient-choice/Pages/your-rights-to-choice.aspx

Dizzy_Ditzy

Assuming that your OH is being sent via choose and book, then yes, you can have a choice of hospitals as long as the GP selects those hospitals on the referral as a choice.

If he is being sent via the two wel wait option (hopefully not!) then the choice is rather more limited.

Either way, he'll need a consultation first before going ahead with surgery - most hospitals (or rather, the clinical commissioning groups!) prefer conservative treatments first.

Good luck

littlerock

OH's was not referred by GP. His health issue turned up via a national screening programme run out of a large teaching hospital in our area. His checkups for it have been at a local health centre. He is being monitored and recently had a further check and been told he needs an operation.

This would normally be at the hospital running the screening programme. However it was announced in November 2016 that it was being put into emergency special measures due, among other things, to unfit for purpose operating theatres, inadequate infection control procedures and a suspect water supply. So not surprisingly he is not keen on being treated there.

There is a lot of stuff on line about choosing where you can get treated with a GP referral but this is not part of GP practice and he has not seen his GP about it. So it is not clear if he can choose where to get the operation.

Wondering if anyone else has been recommended for an operation following a national screening programme and if they have been able to choose which hospital?

sheramber

Could he go to his GP and get a referral?