I would choose NHS. My wife is an NHS nurse. However, if you can afford to go private or have insurance using this will free up NHS time and beds.

the private option is through the nhs, not to pay or insurance.

Are the local trust funding some procedures at private hospitals? Or are they inviting you to pay extra to get it done quicker?

google NHS choices for a comparison tool.

Depends what for. Minor op, local anaesthetic, private - my missus had a procedure at the Yorkshire Clinic recently, very efficient.

I'd want the facilities of a bigger hospital available for anything more significant.

NHS for the following reasons:

Private in the UK means shorter waits and a flat screen in a private room, not better care. Mrs Jay (Nurse Specialist dealing with wounds) says the worst infections come out of Harley Street.

If something goes wrong your average Spire will have some great Medics and facilities for Tit Jobs, Nose Jobs and Gastric Bands, but if you go into cardiac arrest on the table you'll be in an Ambo to the local A&E.

You'll be wasting NHS funds and making a tiny effort to privatise the NHS.

Op isn't going private. Private hospital is being paid to do work for NHS. It's very common. Especially stuff like orthopaedics.
I would say use the NHS provider if no big reason not to. Independent providers doing more of the easy profitable work like this means that acute trusts have less income. Our local dgh orthopaedic department loses out a lot to the local private hip and knee providers. Same surgeon often but money going to a different organisation...

NHS choices...

what are you having done? who is the leas consultant at each location and what's his/her record like?

I'd want the facilities of a bigger hospital available for anything more significant.

Private doesn't necessarily mean it doesn't have all the facilities

what are you having done?

hip replacement.
had my ankle fusion at chapel allerton, this is on the list. it was very good.

What are the other options?

Which hospital (surgeon) does your GP recommend?
And what are the waiting times like?

What are the other options?

Nuffield
Methley park
Chapel allerton
Pinderfields

out of interest, ton, does the letter include names of consultants? It's really hard to find out who a patient will be seeing as the hospitals often don't include this info on choose and book.

You could ask your GP to recommend (or ask where he'd send his mum). Or use ther NHS Choices website to find out about the services like this

[url= http://www.nhs.uk/Services/hospitals/Services/Service/Team/DefaultView.aspx?id=108313 ]Orthopaedics at LGI[/url]

docrobster, no it doesn't.

Depends on whether it's local or general anaesthetic. If it's a general, have a chat with your GP as to what his/her instincts would be given your cardiac history. If it's a local, and you liked Chapel Allerton, fill your boots.

So I'd be unable to advise you then ton. There are about 20 orthopaedic surgeons at my local teaching hospital. I don't know who does which joint. Or who lets his registrars do his hips.
I'd be going for the biggest acute trust but there is always a risk that you'd get cancelled due to a sudden flu epidemic.

on the list nickc posted, mr venkratesh rebuilt my left knee, and mr tellisi did my ankle.
slowly working my way through the specialist body part surgeons.......... 😆

I’d go with whichever one does the most hip ops.

That will be Chapel Allerton

[url= http://www.njrsurgeonhospitalprofile.org.uk/HospitalProfile?hospitalName=Chapel%20Allerton%20Hospital ]Joint registry - Hospital profile [/url]

No offence martinhutch but that is what anaesthetists are for. It's why they have different training to us GPs

Depends on whether it's local or general anaesthetic. If it's a general, have a chat with your GP as to what his/her instincts would be given your cardiac history. If it's a local, and you liked Chapel Allerton, fill your boots.

I wouldn't imagine a hip replacement would be a local....

Every chance it'll be the same consultant at one or more of the options.

chapel allerton will be my choice. been good twice. fingers crossed.

why do they offer private hospitals then? and use same surgeons

the private option is through the nhs, not to pay or insurance.

In that case I would go NHS. The private hospital will spank the pants off the NHS with the bill. There is no respect when private companies bill the NHS because it is not real money, just public money

why do they offer private hospitals then? and use same surgeons

I know a fair few people who have had work done through the NHS at Nuffield for knees, elbows and hips who have had nothing but praise for them. Also good praise for Chapel Allerton, my boss has just had his hip done there.
Pinderfields comes under the Mid Yorkshire Trust who are a shambles and botched up my operations at Dewsbury and my wife has her enlarged optic nerve monitored through them at Pinderfields and again shambolic.

I would be taking the private approach so long as you are going to get the same surgeons and treatment.

Common for the NHS to use private as an option these days to keep capacity running where the prices are comparable.

I wouldn't imagine a hip replacement would be a local....

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Hip-replacement/Pages/How-it-is-performed.aspx

Couldn't speak for what's offered in this particular part of the NHS, mind you.

why do they offer private hospitals then? and use same surgeons

The NHS hospitals won't have enough beds/theatres to treat everyone quickly enough, so rather than the CCG paying the Trust £5000 to do your hip op, they pay the private hospital £5000. Or £4000 (ha!), or £8,000.

It might end up being done by the same surgeons because the private hospital is being paid to do the work, but the surgeons are allowed to work in places other than their NHS job. So the NHS aren't necessarily sending their own staff to work in a private hospital, it's that the surgeons have a second job working at the private place.

Depends entirely on the hospital and the procedure, I don’t think there is a simple answer either way. The more major an operation it is the more likely I would be to chose NHS

My neighbor had a hip replacement at the Yorkshire Clinic in Cottingley 8 weeks ago. Seemed very impressed.

Was given a choice of the YC or two other NHS hospitals.

I was amazed at the recovery rate. Walks past every day as part of his rehab. They clearly push you to get mobile quickly. Now I'd never have guessed he'd had a new hip.

Be wary of going to Pinders Tony, you might end up with my Mrs doing your post-op physio and she's a hard taskmaster 😉

I'm going nhs funded private in a few weeks for a bilateral hernia operation - waiting list for nhs hospital is 9+ months and I can be in next month by going private.

The consultant told me it's very much a capacity/recovery beds thing, and tbh not only will I be back to work sooner (important for income and those who rely on me), I've been able to choose dates to suit family life.

Andy - had similar a few years ago at private hospital on the NHS. They cherry pick the straightforward cases (e.g. not obese etc.) but it means throughput for simpler procedures.

Was seen initially and had op before the NHS hospital could.even see me for first assessment so was a bit.of no brainer for me.

Op isn't going private. Private hospital is being paid to do work for NHS.

This.

I'd choose NHS on the basis that I wouldn't want to encourage that sort of thing.

A lot of nonsense and lies on this thread. I've worked in the private sector and the NHS, currently working in one of the hospitals on your list, and have worked at least one other. Ton, if you'd like some sensible advice feel free to email me.

Edit, on actually reading a bit more, there is some good advice too.. Nuffield or CAH for my vote.

Chapel A ton. My mum has had both of her hips replaced there, with complex medical history, and they have been fantastic.

Also, she now works with them in thier patient experience team and they are putting lots of things in place to improve patient experience.

just phoned the nhs booking line.
1st appointment was a Nuffield hospital in leeds. Nuffield it is then.

The only person I knew personally who died just after an orthopaedic operation ( knee replacement , complications leading to a Pulmonary embolism) was at our local private hospital, they did not have the emergency care required and were tardy in transferring to local NHS hospital intensive care department. She was very unlucky, and may not have survived even if in a larger hospital, but it has made me think.

i would be choosing by the surgeon doing the operation rather than the hospital.

Chapel A and Nuffield is likely to be the same surgeon and possibly same team. Every one I know who had it done had it done at Chapel A with excellent results ( sample size 2 .)
My mum had her feet operated on one private one NHS she had the same surgeon for each op bit preferred the NHS care. Private she felt dumped in a very nice room and ignored NHS she was on a communal ward and interacted with.

she was on a communal ward and interacted with.

Sounds like the perfect reason to go for the private option to me. I wouldn't want to be stuck in with other sick, coughing, spluttering patients talking crap to you all day and putting up with the comings and goings of their family. Yes, it would be great if you were in a ward with a bunch of people you might get on with and have a bit of fun with, but that is unlikely. Every time I've visited people in hospital they seem to be irked and annoyed by people in the neighbouring beds- talking crap all day, whinging and moaning to the staff, being rude, nicking their chocolates, snoring at night. A few days in a private room, decent telly, decent internet connection (probably), nice food sounds like just the ticket for a bit of R&R.

i would be choosing by the surgeon doing the operation rather than the hospital.

So would I but Ton has to consider his heart and if the private place doesn't have the facilities/staff to restart him on the table if it all goes badly wrong. Our local Nuffield advertises it doesn't have A&E facilities and may be one of those that has to blue light arrests in theatre to the local NHS place.

To my knowledge, no private hospital has A&E facilities. However, plenty of private hospitals have the ability to cope with complications during or after surgery.

Not suggesting that the particular Nuffield in question would be able to cope, but you can't draw a conclusion on that from the absence of an A&E.

An NHS patient has a lot less choice over who performs the surgery, that's one of the perks of opting for private. That same perk extends to patients who use the e-Referral system to go to a private hospital for NHS funded treatment. The vast majority of NHS funded treatments in Private facilities are reimbursed at (or below) the National Tariff which is freely available.

As I think someone pointed out, the NJR will tell you which hospital performs the most operations in quite a broad category. This may or may not be a good way of picking your hospital.