advice needed re NHS referral south tyneside PCT

[rachaelh]

apologies if this is a repost im new to all this and i seem to have lost the post i made earlier, so im going to make this a quickish one, i have been told my my gp that i have been approved funding for wls and have to ring the surgery next week to get a user name and password, now i'm a bit confused as the gp was called away so i didnt get to ask everything i wanted to, he told me i would have to go to either newcastle or middlesbrough for the appointment, but im not sure whether it is still in the approval stage or if its a go.

My point being i went in initially to my gp to see if he would write to support whether or not i would need to go to a hdu for gastric banding from WGA after i was told that they would only do the surgery if i paid the larger package price, due to me being a heavy bleeder when i'm cut (that i told the surgeon about) although i've never had any kind of surgery, anyways my gp said he would refer me for nhs funding and after a general appointment yesterday he told me he had received confirmation that morning that i had been approved for funding but now i'm confused what happens next? so far my gp sent me for blood tests, oral glucose tolerance tests and an appointment with a clinical psychologist

any advice would be greatly appreciated

thanks in advance

rachaelh

 

[j.u.s.t.l.i.z.]

hi rachel and welcome to minis, hey im not to far away from u im in boldon

i was nhs banded and you will be refered to sunderland hospital for nhs surgery as thats the only place that does nhs wls here.

 

[thinkbethin]

Hi Rachael and:welcome2: to mini's, it sounds to me that you have nhs funding now so won't have to use wga. If the gp said he was giving you a password then thats for you to make your appointment at the nhs hospital of your choice ( as in newcastle or middlesborough).If you're still unsure then ring the practice of your gp on monday morning and ask the receptionist because she'll have it on her computer about funding. Good luck xxxGaynorxxx

 

[rachaelh]

thanks to both for the swift replies, my mind went blank after i heard him say i had been approved lol had so many questions and they all disappeared, from reading around i thought i would end up in sunderland so was a bit confused when gp said newcastle or the boro not that i mind either way! but just wanted to try and get my head straight or i'd be going mad all weekend!

rachaelh

 

[j.u.s.t.l.i.z.]

you will be in good hands at sunderland they have been brilliant with me x

 

[rachaelh]

thanks liz thats really good to know!

 

[j.u.s.t.l.i.z.]

rachel are you wanting a band or a bypass ?

 

[Snowcrystal]

Congratulations Rachaelh.

What is WGA please?

xXx

 

[rachaelh]

Well i went in to the original consultation i had adamant i wanted a band after reading up on it, but my gp thought i would probably be better suited for a band, so at this point i have no idea what i have been referred for but i'll take anything at this point! after reading up i think either option would be ok but am starting to be swayed towards the bypass, oh and snowcrystal WGA is why go abroad (for surgery) its like a cheaper sister company of the hospital group (the consultation i had was with the hospital group in Newcastle despite paying for the consultation through WGA)

 

[j.u.s.t.l.i.z.]

they will ask your eating habbits and will discuss which op would best suit your needs, me and my sister have bands and my niece has a bypass.

 

[rachaelh]

Ahh that makes sense, my gp has been great which was really surprising as he's normally quite mean when i go in, with his usual answer to every problem being that i needed to lose weight! but it was his idea for me to go for the funding as he's done all the legwork which i'm really chuffed about, i didnt want to get my hopes up as i always tend to fall flat on my face when i do but this seems (touch wood) to be looking pretty good

 

[j.u.s.t.l.i.z.]

i hope everything goes ahead straight foward for you x

 

[jaynefrances]

Hi Rachel
Liz is right - Middlesbrough is my closest hospital but they dont do the nhs surgeries there yet and i am having to go up to Sunderland.
So welcome to the Sunderland "cluster".
Keep your eye out for our thread as we are hoping to have another get together soon and it would be lovely if you could join us.

 

[suzie290304]

hi not to forget north tyneside hospital in newcastle they do both so may have a option of going their x x x

 

[j.u.s.t.l.i.z.]

hi not to forget north tyneside hospital in newcastle they do both so may have a option of going their x x x

it comes down to where you live, ppl in south tyneside get refered to sunderland. north has a diff pct to us.

liz x

 

[Lesley110]

Hi Rachel, I'm another of the Sunderland "Crew", the group seems to be steadily growing. I live in Gateshead and was told that my PCT sends us to Sunderland, no mention of choice! My GP wrote directly to Sunderland Royal and 3 months later (approx) I had my first appointment which was just before Easter. The surgeon informed the group that the timescale for surgery is currently one year from the date of the group session, which means that I should be having my surgery in April next year. At least I have something to aim for.
As Jayne has mentioned we are in the process of trying to arrange another get together with us newbies and the old hands getting together and sharing experiences, absolute hoot, it has been a long time since I have laughed so much, we were making so much noise they turned the hi-fi up to try and drowned out our conversation. Hope to see you there.