I once watched a television program about plastic surgery in the USA. Private practitioners that make vast amounts of money correcting imperfections that perfectly health people perceive themselves to have. The surgeon made a statement that really hit home with me. He longed to do operations that actually helped someone, day in day out breast augmentations were performed so that they could perform a cleft lip operation free of charge to implement new research. Why did this hit home? I was born in 1977 with a cleft lip and palate. In this year an American doctor called Dr Millard was teaching the surgeons in Britain about the amazing leaps they had made in ...  Read the complete review

Having worked for a private medical insurance provider, I have been exposed to a lot of stories in relation to health services provided by people who have insurance with regards to consultants and private hospitals. Firstly when considering this debate it's important to note that a lot of the time with private health insurance, quite a lot of the time you will be receiving your private treatment in NHS hospitals. This is largely due to the fact that MRI/CT scanners and other complex diagnostic tools are more commonly found in publicly funded hospitals. The main benefit therefore with private healthcare is that you get these tests much quicker than you ...  Read the complete review

NHS versus Private Health Care: Hearing aids A year ago I had became concerned about the apparent deterioration in my hearing, which had never been perfect and which may well have suffered adversely from all the rock concerts I attend (despite wearing earplugs.) My NHS doctor arranged for my hearing to be checked at the local hospital, under the NHS. My appointment was changed a couple of times, but nevertheless the waiting period was quite short, a matter of a month or two. The technicians, nurses and specialist seen were polite and helpful and conducted the checks using up-to-date equipment in a sound-proof room. Unfortunately the ...  Read the complete review

The NHS has been under scrutiny and has had bad press for as long as I remember and I myself have had a few bad deals with them but I owe them my life. In November 2004 I was the suvivor of a vicious glass bottle attack which has left me severly scarred and fighting for my life. I was out celebrating my partners birthday when a young, drunken girl started screaming at me. As I turned to walk away I was struck on the head with a Smirnoff Ice bottle which she then used to stab me in the face, arm and the left side of my chest. As I lay on the floor I knew this was a serious situation and I was losing alot of blood. Within minutes an Ambulance crew ...  Read the complete review

My son has tongue tie and we were referred to NHS hospital. The consultant said that it would be a fair wait till they could perform the quick procedure and as I was heavily pregnant I wanted this done ideally before baby number 2 was born. I was advised that going privately would be a quicker option. As we had private health cover through my husbands work then all that I had to do was check this procedure was covered under our policy and make a private consultation. We did just that! The consultation was great and the date for the op was for 2 weeks later he would just get his team into place and confirm it with me. I waited a few days and had to chase them up ...  Read the complete review