Desperately Seeking WLS

[Rising_Sun]

Hi all.

10 days ago I saw my GP who referred me for WLS. (Live in north Manchester). Today I got a letter from Royal Salford NHS Trust to call and chose own appointment with Dr JP New's General Medicine clinic at Hope Hospital. Called and asked for the first available date and was given 13/11/08.

So far so blank. Spent a few good hours on the internet trying to get some info on Dr JP New's clinic. I don't know if he or she is a consultant who will be able to assess suitability for wls or if this is a weight management type clinic. Will be getting a letter confirming the appointment tomorrow though I'm not sure it will tell me much more about who I'm seeing. Tried calling PALS but could only get an answer message. They will call me back hopefully to give me a bit more info about the appointment.

I sure would appreciate info from anyone who has been through Salford Hope Hospital.
xxx

 

[charliegirl]

Hi I attended Hope and saw Dr New in August, he will discuss what you have already tried to lose weight etc. He first offered me the option of going back on reductil and a 300 calorie a day diet. I was not happy with this as been on reductil three times and we then talked some more and he agreed I would be suitable for surgery and referred me to the surgeon. He is really nice and your appointment is quick I am having to start all over again although I have funding in place I have to see a different surgeon for a different hospital and they have no appointments until next year...xx

 

[Rising_Sun]

Hi Charlie,

Thanks for that info.

That's great news about having the funding but what's with having to start again with a new surgeon. (It's possible I missed that on your thread).
xxx

 

[DQ]

Hey Plus, sounds like things are moving quite quickly for you :hug99:

 

[Rising_Sun]

Hi there DQ. Been a long time. Hope you are well.

I do hope and pray that things move fast though reading the different experiences of NHS funded wls here tells me to be wary of high hopes. Fingers x.

xxx

 

[charliegirl]

Hi Charlie,

Thanks for that info.

That's great news about having the funding but what's with having to start again with a new surgeon. (It's possible I missed that on your thread).
xxx

It hurts to talk about it but check out my thread starting all over again...its a bummer but I am still fighting.....xx

 

[DQ]

Hi there DQ. Been a long time. Hope you are well.

I do hope and pray that things move fast though reading the different experiences of NHS funded wls here tells me to be wary of high hopes. Fingers x.

xxx

Yeah did wonder how you were doing. Am in limbo at the moment, am hopeful that in the next week or so things will change enough to enable me to do what I need to do. :hug99:

 

[gingernutter]

Hi,

welcome, glad to see you have started your WL journey. It seems to different for everyone. Poor charliegirl has been given the run-around if you read her posts you might them helpful to you.

Do you know if you fit the local criteria?

My BMI is now 49.9 and I still dont meet the criteria in my area. I have applied for fund and now playing the waiting game!!

 

[hopelesscase]

Hi plus
I saw dr new on the 12th june this year with the view of going back on lipotrim. He is lovely and as soon as i saw him he is an endocraiologist and the diabetic specialist dr bayon? he surgested i had a bypass. I hadnt even considered surgery and was a little taken back. prior to seeing him i had to have my bloods done a 24hr urine collection test and then a sleep apnea test and a meeting with the psycologist. after i had seen him he wrote to my gp asking him to apply for funding which luckly was granted and i saw the lovely Mr ammorie 2 weeks ago and was expecting to have my op christmas week. But i had a phone call today to say im now having ot on thursday so been for my pre op assessment today. i went to see my GP on the 2nd may so just 6 months. Im really excited but scared at the same time.
HTH
HC

 

[Rising_Sun]

Do you know if you fit the local criteria?

My BMI is now 49.9 and I still dont meet the criteria in my area. I have applied for fund and now playing the waiting game!!

Hi Gingernut,

My BMI is a whooping 56 right now and being 5ft 11.5" no longer disguises the weight. Criteria for Manchester where I live is the standard NICE guidelines. I've only ever tried diet pills once (reductil) and I'm not going there again. I have dabbled in more weight loss plans than I care to remember including the Cambridge Diet (which I think I will resume on Sunday to demonstrate serious intent). I only hope that I will not be asked to spend 6 or more months in weight management because I have been managing my weight all my adult life with limited and short lived results. I have not (yet) got any obesity related illnesses I am aware of apart from increasingly disabling back ache. I'm struggling to walk 100m without major discomfort at present. My normal for Blood Pressure is on the high end anyway. I had gestational diabetes so am at increased risk getting the disease. So, having taken you via the scenic route the answer to your question is yes, I meet the guidelines and I hope Dr New thinks so too when I see him mid-November.

Which area/PCT are you?

 

[Rising_Sun]

Hi plus
I saw dr new on the 12th june this year with the view of going back on lipotrim. He is lovely and as soon as i saw him he is an endocraiologist and the diabetic specialist dr bayon? he surgested i had a bypass. I hadnt even considered surgery and was a little taken back. prior to seeing him i had to have my bloods done a 24hr urine collection test and then a sleep apnea test and a meeting with the psycologist. after i had seen him he wrote to my gp asking him to apply for funding which luckly was granted and i saw the lovely Mr ammorie 2 weeks ago and was expecting to have my op christmas week. But i had a phone call today to say im now having ot on thursday so been for my pre op assessment today. i went to see my GP on the 2nd may so just 6 months. Im really excited but scared at the same time.
HTH
HC

Hi Hope (nothing 'lesscase' about you now )

Your route to wls seem to buck the trend of long delays. I hope I'm as lucky as you seem to have been. I've prepared myself for a 6 month wait but I know this might be a bit too optimistic. I also hope you don't mind me asking what your BMI was at the time of seeing Dr. New and whether you had diabetes or similar weight related conditions?
You said you were initially seeing Dr New about resuming lipotrim. Were you getting lipotrim via Dr. New? I ask because it could save me a bob or two if I had to go through weight management.

Goodluck for Thursday.
xxx

 

[hopelesscase]

Dr whynecove(sp) used to run the WMC and apparently used lipotrim but you had to pay for it. He retired and Dr new took over. MY BMI was 51 when i saw him and unfortunatly its creeping back up. My bloodpressure was boarderline but apart from that no health problems. Bariatic surgery is new at hope but the staff i have met so far have been fantastic even in pre op today,
Good luck on yr Journey hope it is as sucessful as mine.

 

[Rising_Sun]

Thanks for that info Hope.
xxx

 

[Rising_Sun]

:cry:Yes, I thought it was too good to be true. My consultation with Dr. New, @ Salford Royal, which was to be 23 days after my GP referral has been cancelled "due to funding from your GP". The letter came this morning. It is part typed and part handwritten i.e the bit about the reason for cancellation. Called the consultant's secretary and she said referral will most likely have been returned to GP advising that funding for surgery should be in place before I can be seen at the hospital. Can this be the case . Must I get funding before anyone even assesses my suitability for wls. I called the secretary again and she said this happens when the referral details clearly point to and support surgery (as I suppose mine do). My GP should now be applying for funding. It all feels a bit upside down and I am really anxious now. I am psyching up now to call the GP office and later the PCT. Any words of wisdom??

 

[charliegirl]

Hi Plus, I managed to see Dr New whilst my application was going through with the PCT, I know I managed that by good luck really which has come back and bitten me on the bum. I too spoke to the secretary and she was very off hand saying she wished the GP's would do it right and that they had to apply for the funding first. I think this is a daft way of doing it as how can they know you would be suitable for the surgery if they have not seen you first. But my opinions dont seem to count for anything lol...I am do know how you feel though and if its any consolation dispite having funding approved I am still fighting the system that can waste NHS money in one hand and refuse patients treatment they need in the other.....if you want to know anything further give me a shout and I will try to help....in the meantime ((hugs)) for you, I know there were many times when I needed a hug...xx

 

[charliegirl]

By the way plus you well meet the criteria so it will be a case of funding being granted, I would ensure your GP has sent off the referral to the PCT and then pester them to death...its going to be a case of when not if for you love....xx

 

[Rising_Sun]

Thanks Charlie. Hugs warmly received.

I've just been on the phone to the GP surgery and spoke to the practice manager who said his understanding was that there would be an initial consultation at the hospital, which would recommend (or not) surgery before requesting that GP applies for funding. This was my understanding too because it makes sense and I would have thought a consultant's recommendation would be needed by the PCT to support a funding decision. Any how, practice manager said he would wait for the letter from hospital and then apply for funding. I'm getting on the phone to the PCT to get their take on things.


....and the waiting begins.

 

[charliegirl]

Its a minefield, I wish they would produce a document that set down how these things work. I have exhausted PALS as they always say they dont know when I have asked a question. I am also sick of waiting for people to return calls and emails. If you ask a straight questions why cant you get a straight answer??? It's beyond me. In my job if someone calls up querying something I take their number give them an estimate of when I should have the answer, go seek the answer and call them back. If I am going to exceed the estimation I call to tell them still working on it. I think a lot of people bury their heads and cant be bothered to reply to some problems, they just want their pay and to go home. It's not on they get paid to deliver a service and should deliver it....I will get off my soap box now lol....but it does drive me mad!!!!...keep me posted and anything I can do to help I will do...xx

 

[Rising_Sun]

Its a minefield, I wish they would produce a document that set down how these things work.

Hear, hear Charlie. When I called up the PCT I said I wanted a step by step mind map of how things go and a time-frame for funding decisions because there is no written information I can get anywhere. The PCT don't seem to have any and frankly I think it benefits them to not have any. No information - No Patient Power must be the general unstated motto.

Any how, PCT advise that hospital are right to ask GP to apply for funding first. GP surgery clearly not in the loop. Called up practice manager again to tell him the same and ask that he apply for funding straight away without awaiting his copy of letter from the hospital. He will do as soon as secretary is back from sick leave (?). He said he would send a letter to PCT . Is there not a form to be filled. Is this not the stage for me to be involved in presenting a case in a supporting letter. I only ask because I don't want surprises and back tracking weeks down the road.

Sure would like to hear from any one who has or is going through Manchester PCT (incorporating North, South and Central Manchester)

 

[charliegirl]

Hi Plus, my GP referral was a letter and not a good one at that. Some do have a form but you can always send a supporting letter or speak to your GP about including other things, have to say whilst my GP supported me he was not very experience in this field and I get the impression that he did not want me telling him his job! Keep at them, 5 letters from various parts of the NHS went missing and I had to chase everything up my phone, I am now resorting to email and then at least I have a hard copy of everything to present to ICAS if I get no where.....we will all be so experienced when we are done which will help any new comers...xx