To be told to consider going to Prague?

If driving in less than good daylight is a worry then you shouldn't be on the road, re. recent royal accident, you would not get away with it. One rule them.............................

You can short cut the wait for the first consultant appointment - ask for that to be a private appointment. You will pay the charge for that. But if they recommend your cataracts need treating - then you say you would like that done on the NHS. - Your time to op will depend on the waiting time in your area - and you have to option to travel to a hospital of your choice - so you check where within your travel range has the shortest wait and tell them that is where you'd like to be treated.

My brother went to Prague for his cataract surgery because the waiting list was too long in England.... it went wrong and he had to have it all put right when he got home, as an emergency.Not a very good way to ‘jump the queue’ but that’s what it amounted to!Having said that, I’ve just had my first cataract done ( in England) and I also need a repair job done ! It’s called a Ptosis op. I’ve been waiting ten months and now been told it could be another six. I need a second cataract doing! I’m thinking twice about that’s!!

Just checked the Benenden site, they don't have many hospitals and none anywhere near to me.

They have one fairly near me and I was impressed by the fact that everyone pays a flat rate, whatever their age or health. I might be have to consider this. Thanks for the information, Blinko.

That doctor could have been me. Well that is if I was a doctor!
I often say things that I am expecting the person I’m talking to respond with a wry smile and a raising of eyebrows. I have tried to cure myself of makeing flippant comments buts it’s a work in progress.?

mabon1 if my optician says that I'm safe to drive in good light, then that's good enough for me.

At 60, I am considerably younger than the Duke of Edinburgh!

Having treatment of any kind abroad carries a risk unless you know the facilities and professionals. Don't know how many instances I've heard of when treatment, medical and dental goes wrong and it's the good old NHS that has to sort out the mess.

I'd check it out TBH. My ex (with whom I am still on friendly terms which is why I know) went to Hungary to have his teeth done. They made a brilliant job of it & it cost a fraction of the amount his dentist quoted.

Friend has had dental implants done in Spain. Needed three trips but still saved a huge amount and very pleased with results.

These ‘foreigners’ are pretty good at their job! Honestly.

Replies noted, however dental treatment is not quite the same as eye surgery, albeit that cataract operations are among the most common and frequently done.

However, regardless of where the surgery is carried out, I do not have a couple of thousand pounds stuffed down the back of the sofa!

But with Benenden you wouldn't need it, Phoenix.

Blinko I don't have a policy with Benenden!

A lovely foreigner did my knee replacement, in the country on the NHS, and he was brilliant. As for the Dr who suggested you go private I would kick up a right stink about her attitude.

I have no problem at all with people that some of you have referred to as "foreigners" and have not the faintest idea as to why this thread has prompted such comments, and am not impressed by them (the comments, that is, just for clarification)

Until he retired 2 years ago, my main GP was from Iraq, I first saw him at my post natal check after having DS2, who would have been 30 this year.

My gripe is with the casual attitude shown by the doctor that I saw, who seemed not to have actually listened to what I was saying, and who also seemed to think that it was quite the norm to

A) Have sufficient funds to have a spare £3k to pay for private treatment, or

B) If one didn't have £3k, then take the £2k option and travel to Prague

She is not living in my world.

Benenden is not a policy in the normal sense. At £10 a month, it's worth a look, surely.

Surely it has to be in place prior to using it?

I had a quick look, and they do actually have a facility in Exeter.

My MiL didn't seem to wait very long for hers, although it was about 8 years ago. She was in a home so I don't know if they were able to hurry it along. One of my friends is having hers done next month but I don't know how long she's waited.

I had a cataract op last week, it went really well, the eye clinic was marvellous. From visiting the optician to the operation took just under 3 months. The surgeon told me to get my optician to refer me for the other eye. I live in Bedfordshire.

I have been told I have cataracts but they arent at the stage to do anything about them. I dont drive in the dark because of oncoming headlights,if my eyes do get worse then I will be able to have both eyses done here in this country where we live in no time at all from the referral to operation, only a few weeks I believe, but I hope I dont need anything done for years, although the success is 100% Stay at home dont pay a fortune abroad Phoenix. Good Luck

I have Benenden cover as a benefit from work and before this year had simply health cover which is similar. It allows you to get a quicker appointment for a referral to a consultant and also pays for spectacles and dental treatment up to a set amount per year. I'm due to retire in 18 months and considering whether to continue paying it myself then. I was puzzled how they could afford to offer that amount of cover so cheaply and was told that apparently people often forget they have cover so don't claim! Very interested in the information about the hospital in France. I was once hospitalised in France when on holiday and was very impressed by the treatment and the individual room etc. It turned out I didn't have the problem they suspected - something much less serious so I was only there one night but I bet if I'd turned up at A&E in the UK with the same thing I'd have been sent home. It would have been tricky if I'd been kept longer as we were moving to a different area in France the next day for our second week's holiday. Poor ex H and kids had to do all the cleaning of the gite and packing up without me - big bonus!

I know of someone who went to Mexico for a stem cell transplant - health tourism is worth considering

Do Benenden staff with NHS consultant or have their own doctors? Not sure, if they are NHS staff how it would reduce waiting lists for others? I am waiting to see a consultant for a back op. who does 2 x days at the Nuffield as a private doc. If he was f/t would I be seen sooner or is his private work helping to reduce waiting?? I really don't know!

I think that some people like to know what their options are if there is going to be a long wait but then again some people don't. I don't see what is wrong with the doctor mentioning options as long as there is no pressure to go.

I had the opposite from my knee surgeon who advised me that even though there was a wait that I shouldn't consider a private option for my knee replacement as my procedure meant that I would need an intensive care bed on standby and that private hospitals didn't have these

There are lots of things to consider if going abroad for treatment - one would be the regulation system of doctors and whether private clinics providing the service are a regulated part of the whole health care system - here all facilities are inspected by CQC and all doctors of course regulated by the GMC. No idea about the CR.