Nuffield Private Hospital misleading information

Ergates

Mee said:

May be I am missing the point, but I don't understand why you would withhold  or demand a refund of the consultant's/ation fee in this instance. S/he provided a consultation service you received. 
Though your disagreement is with the hospital, I would be wary of acting in a way that could be misinterpreted by the consultant concerned - it's a small world.
Regarding your shoulder I would check BoA treatment standards and patient specfic  resources:

https://www.boa.ac.uk/standards-guidance.html

Because, in simple terms, if the initial quote given to the OP had been closer to the final one, then they'd never have bothered with the consultation as they'd have already known it was more than they could afford.

the problem is, though, that probably more than *any other* field, an initial quote for a surgery is going to be *massively* subject to change prior to a proper consultation with a surgeon.

So the question becomes:  was it the OP's responsibility to recognise this, or should the hospital been clearer about this when giving the initial figure.

LightFlare

rach_k said:

 We're so used to the NHS that we don't realise how much private costs

When I worked in the NHS - we always said that all patients should be given notice of the cost of any treatment/procedure that they received.

I would guess that most people have no idea of the cost of care under the NHS

flaneurs_lobster

LightFlare said:

rach_k said:

 We're so used to the NHS that we don't realise how much private costs

When I worked in the NHS - we always said that all patients should be given notice of the cost of any treatment/procedure that they received.

I would guess that most people have no idea of the cost of care under the NHS

My outpatient appointment letters for the local NHS Trust always include the cost to the NHS of my not attending an agreed appointment. 

Is this the cost of the consultation/procedure or simply the admin cost of processing a non-attendance?

born_again

Maybe the cost of the surgery is £3K.
Just does not include any of the other staffing etc that is required for the surgery.

maggiesoup

Rach_k's response highlights my circumstances.  I have been obviously been naive!  However how can you know what you don't know.  To be honest I thought that almost £4,000 for this operation WAS expensive but when you add a further £6,000 it's simply mad, how can the initial information given out be anywhere near realistic? They clearly have to change their "script" and mention that it's a starting price.

I'll close the subject now.  Thanks to all who contributed.

MyRealNameToo

flaneurs_lobster said:

LightFlare said:

rach_k said:

 We're so used to the NHS that we don't realise how much private costs

When I worked in the NHS - we always said that all patients should be given notice of the cost of any treatment/procedure that they received.

I would guess that most people have no idea of the cost of care under the NHS

My outpatient appointment letters for the local NHS Trust always include the cost to the NHS of my not attending an agreed appointment. 

Is this the cost of the consultation/procedure or simply the admin cost of processing a non-attendance?

How much does it say and is it always the same or variable?

I know others have calculated that it's approximately £160 per hospital outpatient missed but they didnt state what was included and excluded. It's clearly a complex thing to calculate overall as there's lots of potential things you could include like my blood test done privately are about £100 so do they reflect the fact thats a cost avoided? Are they taking into consideration that people who arent attending potentially get sicker due to not being monitored and therefore need more intensive treatment than if it had been captured early etc. 


On the OP... there are just so many variables... we consider the NHS as a one stop shop but in the private sector its made up of parts so for an op there was a charge from the consultant for their time both in surgery and follow up, there was a charge from the hospital for renting the room/operating theatre, there was a charge for pharmacy and whilst not in my case in my relatives case a charge for the replacement hip. 

If you look on their website they state the guide price will vary by consultancy fee, prosthetics and pharmacy with you only getting a clear price after the initial consultation. 

maggiesoup

Just to give everyone who was kind enough to reply an update.

I had the operation a week ago through Spire (who ended up being £3,250 cheaper for exactly the same operation!)

I was like a dog with a bone re-Nuffield and worded a professional yet critical fairly lengthy email to them.  Fast forward 2 weeks and eventually my complaint was escalated to a Manager who agreed that what I had been quoted on the phone & quoted in person was too vastly different.   She ended up writing off the £180 I was due to pay the consultant

It felt very much like a David and  Goliath moment.   

Merry Christmas !