Australia -> England For Surgery

[MaxAloysius]

Hey guys,

So we have an English cousin staying with us at the moment, and she mentioned to me the idea of going to England for my surgery, rather than having it done here. Positives include being able to visit my English family, recovering in the home of a qualified nurse (rather than a cheap hotel room by myself), and being able to have the procedure done in one surgery rather than two.

I can get a British passport, so that's not a problem for me, but I'm wondering if I will be able to get part of it covered by the NHS/Medicare if I'm in England for the surgery? Does anyone know how all of that works? And if it is something I could do, then can anyone suggest any good surgeons, and what are prices like? Also, what do surgeons in Englad require before they will do the surgery? I have a letter from my therapist saying she recommends me for surgery, but I had to take that and a letter from a doctor to the surgeon here; will I need to get another doctors letter for a surgeon in England?

Also, what are the waiting lists like there? The surgeon here could get me in three months after my consultation, but I've heard that some waiting lists can be very long. My current surgery is booked in for the 28th of August, so I have some time to play with this idea. Most important of all though is that I wouldn't be able to fly over for a consultation, so I really don't know how that kind of thing works. Are there any surgeons who will do a phone consultation or something?

I really like this idea though, and I'd love to find a way to make it work! Any help would be greatly appreciated guys!

[Kreuzfidel]

I saw you didn't get any comments, Bane, and I thought I'd bump your question.  I'm too new to Medicare to have much to say - are you a dual Aussie/UK citizen?  I've heard Oz and the UK have a reciprocal agreement with healthcare, but I'm not sure how far that extends.  I would guess you would need new letters for any surgeon in England - also I wouldn't think that a surgeon would be satisfied with not having an in-person consultation first, but I could be wrong.

[MaxAloysius]

Thanks Kreuzfidel!

Yes, I have dual citizenship, and yeah, we have a reciprocal health agreement going between the two countries, but that's everything I know. From what I gather I will only be covered in the UK for things that the NHS would cover, so the fact that my surgery is covered here doesn't really help me.

Our English cousin is coming back from her trip away today, so I guess I'll ask her if she can help shed some light on all this.

[Tay]

Hello,

I see no one from the UK has replied yet. I'm honestly not sure how it works if you have dual citizenship etc but I know from my experience (UK born, NHS patient) that it took me over a year from my gender specialist recommending me for surgery to actually getting surgery. This is because it's a very lengthy process:

1. Gender specialist from a gender clinic recommends surgery (all gender clinics seem to be different but at mine recommendation is typical after 18 months total psychotherapy and one year hormone treatment).
2. Second opinion must be sought from another specialist in the gender field.
3. Funding board meets and discusses case.
4. Funding approved.
5. Added to waiting list for consultation.
6. Pre-op consultation.
7. Added to waiting list for sugery.
8. Surgery.


I also know several guys who have been at their gender clinics for over three years and have been on T for over a year (at least) and have been refused funding for surgery because the NHS funding board has decided that chest surgery is cosmetic and won't cover it.

[MaxAloysius]

Yeah, after talking things over with our cousin it seems like even if I could work everything out it would still take too long/cost too much to have the surgery done in England.

Ah well, there goes that 'brilliant' idea!