Hello :) looking for information on the Croydon pct

[Suga plum]

Hello everyone

Hope your all well

Lets get to business lol.

Ok so... Im currently on Orlistat but I've noticed my BMI is 50 or very very close to it. So I'm going to the doctor to ask him to refer. I have read the PCT guidelines and if you have a BMI of 50 or above you can automatically refered.

I just wondered has anybody else done this? What happens from there? Do you attend weight loss management classes for 6 months before you can go any further?


Thanks

 

[BrianT]

Hi Sugar plum,
I'm on the Croydon PCT and my GP referred me to Kings (I had a choice of Kings or St Georges Tooting) My BMI then was 51 and I was 52 years old
I'd been on Orlistat for a year also and I had attended a dietician for nearly a year before that. Once I'd been referred I was sent an appointment to see the Surgery Team and I actually saw the surgeon (Chang) she went through the various options and asked me what I wanted and what sort of weight I was looking to get down to, she then advised the sleeve and explained all the complications and all that stuff and then got me to sign a surgery consent form.
Within a month I had to have a lung function test and an sleep apnoea test. and then I never heard anything for 10 months. After 8 months I was phoning the hospital to find out where I was in the queue and at the end of 11 months I was booked in for surgery exactly 1 year after I'd met the surgeon.
If you do a search in the sleeve section I've got a couple of posts there that go into more detail about the process I went through both before and post surgery and I have no complaints about any of it.
Good luck with your process and I hope it's a speedy one.

 

[Suga plum]

Hi Brian

Thanks for your response, it was most helpful. Can i just ask did they test you for co mobilities? And if so was that because you needed to have them to be put forward for surgery?

 

[Mrs Quiggle]

Hi. I'm probably under the same PCT as you as I am in Carshalton and had my op at St. Georges where there is a fantastic team. Not sure about PCT's now as I got my funding 4 years ago now but you can look it up online and see what they stipulate. My advice is to stop dieting as you WILL need a BMI of over 50. Put weights in your pockets if necessary. I know that sounds like a joke but I'm not joking. If you'd like to meet up with some of us in the area we meet monthly at The Whispering Moon Pub in Wallington and the next meeting is on the 20th March at 8pm here's a link to more details.

http://www.wlsurgery.com/wls-meetin...y-wallington-sutton-croydon-monthly-meet.html

There is also the support group at St. Georges Hospital, open to everyone at whatever stage of the journey you are at. This is held on the last Tuesday of the month and is in the Thomas Addison unit which is the diabetic clinic.

Hope you find the info you need, and welcome to the forum.

Love Kate x

 

[Maz0106]

Hi. I'm also under Croydon pct. mine was pretty similar to Brian however I didn't have any lung function tests or sleep apnea tests. I'm pretty healthy all in all. I went to my GP in oct on a wed, I was approved funding by the Friday. I then 2 weeks later got a call from st George's for my app to see the consultant and another app to see the dietcian this was in the nov. in the dec I got a letter to say all going ahead you will hear from us by jan. at the end of jan I recieved a call from georges and was given a date for the end of jan I had to decline that date due to being to short notice and I was ten offered the 20th feb which I accepted. My operation was done 8 days ago and I had my operation at st Anthony's the private hospital, my stay was very nice and I'm feeling fantastic.

My BMI was just under 50.

Good luck with everything.

Maz x

 

[BrianT]

Hi Brian

Thanks for your response, it was most helpful. Can i just ask did they test you for co mobilities? And if so was that because you needed to have them to be put forward for surgery?

In as much as they asked me if I had Diabetes then yes, but I didn't have any I had very mild sleep apnoea but it wasn't severe enough to count. I got the impression that if your BMI was over 50 you were "in" so to speak

 

[BrianT]

I should also add it would help if you GP refers you to a specific surgeon rather than just general surgery, as my referral had all but gone missing until I chased it up. I can certainly recommend Ms Avril Chang at Kings, she explained everything clearly and was very pleasant and non judgemental. She does both NHS and Private but be prepared for a years wait if your going down the NHS route between her saying yes and you actually going in.

 

[Aidafi]

Hi Sugar plum,
I'm on the Croydon PCT and my GP referred me to Kings (I had a choice of Kings or St Georges Tooting) My BMI then was 51 and I was 52 years old
I'd been on Orlistat for a year also and I had attended a dietician for nearly a year before that. Once I'd been referred I was sent an appointment to see the Surgery Team and I actually saw the surgeon (Chang) she went through the various options and asked me what I wanted and what sort of weight I was looking to get down to, she then advised the sleeve and explained all the complications and all that stuff and then got me to sign a surgery consent form.
Within a month I had to have a lung function test and an sleep apnoea test. and then I never heard anything for 10 months. After 8 months I was phoning the hospital to find out where I was in the queue and at the end of 11 months I was booked in for surgery exactly 1 year after I'd met the surgeon.
If you do a search in the sleeve section I've got a couple of posts there that go into more detail about the process I went through both before and post surgery and I have no complaints about any of it.
Good luck with your process and I hope it's a speedy one.

Hi Brian, a month ago i visited my GP who said that she had referred me to Croydon PCT, but i havent had any response. i went back to him last week and he mentioned that though my BMI is over 52 the criteria is very rigid and doesnt think that the PCT give me funding. please advice