going private - UK

[Buffy]

BUPA specificaly exlude any thing relating to Gender Reassignment in there plans.

Check the small print!

You can get general counselloring, physhciatry, I had to say I was suicidal.

Buffy

[Jay]

BUPA specificaly exlude any thing relating to Gender Reassignment in there plans.

Check the small print!

You can get general counselloring, physhciatry, I had to say I was suicidal.

Buffy

Damn! That sucks......

[Berliegh]

Thank you. Well when I get back on the ladder I will defiantly have to look into that! Thank you.

With Bupa though if you are referred for surgery... will you have to pay for it out of your own pockets or then get it done on the NHS?!

You would pay for it but Bupa have scemes where you can pay in installments..

Buffy,
I bet bupa don't exclude facial surgery, breast augmentation or liposuction which are both part of a gender change (see HBSOC)..

[Jay]

BUPA specificaly exlude any thing relating to Gender Reassignment in there plans.

Check the small print!

You can get general counselloring, physhciatry, I had to say I was suicidal.

Buffy

Berliegh do you use Bupa?

[Caroline]

Caroline, They told me 3 years for Sheffield on the phone this morning...

*hijacks thread*

That's really odd, I was told they were seeing patients referred in 2001 when I rang up about jan/feb time.  I was referred back in April 2003 and am still waiting...  Maybe they've sped up and it's only 3 years for new patients.  Hope so!

and I've just rang them and asked how long the waiting list would be for new patients from the Sheffield PCT area and they said (not exact quote) 'well we're currently seeing patients who've been on the list from 2001 so that's about 6 years'.  Asked about patients from other areas and they said that the waiting list for them isn't much better either.

[Berliegh]

BUPA specificaly exlude any thing relating to Gender Reassignment in there plans.

Check the small print!

You can get general counselloring, physhciatry, I had to say I was suicidal.

Buffy

Berliegh do you use Bupa?

are you kidding.......I'm a bit of a renegade.....I just get things done as and when I have the money. I went through the whole NHS thing and it was a nightmare....

I think it's probably much worse in London and I ended up fighting with a London NHS GIC clinic for 6 years to try and access some form of treatment.......they made things very difficult for me to the point where I left.....so far my only source of treatment has been private....and that's not a lot so far as I'm not very well off....

[Buffy]

Thank you. Well when I get back on the ladder I will defiantly have to look into that! Thank you.

With Bupa though if you are referred for surgery... will you have to pay for it out of your own pockets or then get it done on the NHS?!

You would pay for it but Bupa have scemes where you can pay in installments..

Buffy,
I bet bupa don't exclude facial surgery, breast augmentation or liposuction which are both part of a gender change (see HBSOC)..

Bupa will not cover any form of cosmetic surgery, They carry out Cosmetic surgery but you have to pay

I tried to get my BA covered by bupa and they refused.

Buffy

[Jay]

So by private what do you mean? I know oversly you pay for it but do you go through someone else like bupa.... by the way I haven't had much sleep at the moment so I am abit slow.....*yawns*

Well I live in Norfolk and have been referred to the Gender Clinic here on 22 June 2007 however I have heard no word since.. and I am having trouble trying to find the address and telephone number as I wish to know how long the waiting list actually is. 

Ok I have found where it is and its 2 and a half hours drive away!!!

[Berliegh]

Bupa will not cover any form of cosmetic surgery, They carry out Cosmetic surgery but you have to pay

I tried to get my BA covered by bupa and they refused.

Buffy

Buffy you made a Contradiction.....either they do cosmetic surgery or they don't.....I think they do and if you were to go the Bupa route you could pay in installments...

But I would rather seek out more specialised people for gender related surgery...and wouldn't use Bupa..

[jonjon]

So by private what do you mean? I know oversly you pay for it but do you go through someone else like bupa.... by the way I haven't had much sleep at the moment so I am abit slow.....*yawns*

Well I live in Norfolk and have been referred to the Gender Clinic here on 22 June 2007 however I have heard no word since.. and I am having trouble trying to find the address and telephone number as I wish to know how long the waiting list actually is. 

Ok I have found where it is and its 2 and a half hours drive away!!!

My letter after my referral saying i was on the list took a good 3 months. Then i got the address and contacts and web address from the letter. And i emailed them, and at the time (Porterbrook Clinic in Sheffield) about a month and a half ago stated people who were referred to in 2004 were still being seen.

2yrs... 3yrs... 6yrs.... everyone seems to be getting diff quotes from the same place and i'm beginning to loose my trust in them... not that there were any to begin with.

[Berliegh]

So by private what do you mean? I know oversly you pay for it but do you go through someone else like bupa.... by the way I haven't had much sleep at the moment so I am abit slow.....*yawns*

Well I live in Norfolk and have been referred to the Gender Clinic here on 22 June 2007 however I have heard no word since.. and I am having trouble trying to find the address and telephone number as I wish to know how long the waiting list actually is. 

Ok I have found where it is and its 2 and a half hours drive away!!!

Jaston, I wouldn't ever go to another NHS gender clinic....which wasted a large chunk of my life and made me very suicidal and led into depression....the NHS will stall you as much as possible and they have no care or respect for you either....

Most places have gender psychiatrists who work private, you have to look around and find them and the same with surgeons and specialists....the NHS won't supply them...

[Buffy]

I transitioned in the UK through Leicester GIC. I went privately through Nuffield Hospitals as the same consultants who work at Leicester General, also work at the Nuffield Leicester. Bupa (who where my providers at the time) refused to pay for any of my treatment.

Many of the Nuffield Hospitals have an associated Physchiatry unit that deals with Gender issues and they have a Gender Clinic. The one at Leicester was held once a Month on a Wed Evening.

I actually managed to get Speach Therapy via the Leicester NHS trust (even though I was outside the area). My GP in my own area provided all my blood work and converted my first Private Hormone prescription into an NHS one.

I got two referal letters, although I only needed one (the second being through Sheffield) for SRS, having previously having FFS in Thailand (which was against the wishes of my Physchiatrist), but he could not stop me.

Buffy

[Jay]

So by private what do you mean? I know oversly you pay for it but do you go through someone else like bupa.... by the way I haven't had much sleep at the moment so I am abit slow.....*yawns*

Well I live in Norfolk and have been referred to the Gender Clinic here on 22 June 2007 however I have heard no word since.. and I am having trouble trying to find the address and telephone number as I wish to know how long the waiting list actually is. 

Ok I have found where it is and its 2 and a half hours drive away!!!

Jaston, I wouldn't ever go to another NHS gender clinic....which wasted a large chunk of my life and made me very suicidal and led into depression....the NHS will stall you as much as possible and they have no care or respect for you either....

Most places have gender psychiatrists who work private, you have to look around and find them and the same with surgeons and specialists....the NHS won't supply them...

The thing at the moment I am unemployed and will be starting a new job *fingers crossed* in September so I am hoping that I will be able to save the money up and go private from then. However I will want a consultation with one of the Bupa's doctors before I go ahead with them.
I just don't like how long the waiting lists are!?? So private seems to be my only hope however, I am even considering having top surgery done in the US as its half the price and I have family out there too, do you need a referral letter to gt top surgery done even if it is private done through a cosmetic surgeon?

[Berliegh]

I actually managed to get Speach Therapy via the Leicester NHS trust (even though I was outside the area). My GP in my own area provided all my blood work and converted my first Private Hormone prescription into an NHS one.

I got two referal letters, although I only needed one (the second being through Sheffield) for SRS, having previously having FFS in Thailand (which was against the wishes of my Physchiatrist), but he could not stop me.

Buffy

I went along similar lines Buffy and as regards to hormones which I started on privately the same day which was then converted to NHS prescription. This was after a two year battle previously with Charing Cross GIC of refusing hormones...

With my PCT, they need two referral letters for GRS and they have to be NHS specified which is a bit of a stumbling block.....I have one letter I can possibly use but my PCT insist on two..

Posted on: July 27, 2007, 09:33:34 AM

The thing at the moment I am unemployed and will be starting a new job *fingers crossed* in September so I am hoping that I will be able to save the money up and go private from then. However I will want a consultation with one of the Bupa's doctors before I go ahead with them.
I just don't like how long the waiting lists are!?? So private seems to be my only hope however, I am even considering having top surgery done in the US as its half the price and I have family out there too, do you need a referral letter to gt top surgery done even if it is private done through a cosmetic surgeon?

I work for myself, so I dip in to the forum every now and then. I don't earn hardly anything at the moment. I used to run my own business which went bust in 2003.

Bupa is not the right move.......stay on the NHS waiting list but keep your options open....keep it on the back burner......

The U.S is a good idea and they have some top gender specialists over there like Douglas Ousterhout who is a specialist in FFS......and remember the only surgery you need a psychiatrists referral for is GRS if you go private......unless you have a good NHS PCT who might give you funding for a boob job or in some very rare extreame cases FFS...it has been known..... So in that case you would need NHS referrals..