DebzinUS

I haven't posted in a couple of yrs,, but lurk quite a bit I was in the final throws of a move back to the UK when I received a cancer diagnosis on Oct 25. I was supposed to fly home tomorrow, but now I am having surgery in just over a week, followed by radiation treatment. I am so fortunate to be close to Vanderbilt and in the just over the week since my diagnosis I have multiple scans, seen a surgeon and scheduled for my op. I am so grateful for the speed at which this has occurred. Many at home have said that wouldn't have happened on the NHS. My plan now is to then make the move over once all treatment is completed here. I am concerned about follow up cancer care on the NHS. Any thoughts on the current situation with the NHS? I will be living near Oxford. Thanks for any info - Deb

christmasoompa

I’m so sorry to hear this. My mother lives just south of Oxford in Buckinghamshire and has had excellent cancer care over the past few years. She’s had three occurrences and we couldn’t fault the care at all - her first diagnosis was given sitting in a doctors office on a Friday and on the Monday she was being operated on. Her last cancer diagnosis was for a very rare and aggressive type so she was at the Royal Marsden (amazing) but all of her other care has been in Bucks. There is no doubt at all in my mind that the NHS has saved her life.

I also have a best friend with secondary breast cancer who has had exemplary care.

I’ve read horror stories in the media (Daily Mail, looking at you), and perhaps we’ve just been lucky, but I will sing the praises of NHS staff and care all day long.

old.sparkles

Those horror stories are in the media for a reason. For my mum it took two or three months for the tests that confirmed cancer, another three - four months for surgery, and less than 6 months later she passed away. She was 74.

Not Oxford area, and now nearly 5 years ago but I've not heard of vast improvements since then.

durham_lad

Unfortunately it is likely to be very hit and miss and post code dependent. My sister was diagnosed with cancer of the esophagus in December 2020 (Covid times) and by end of January had elected chemo and radio treatment over the surgery which was going to be huge, removing a long piece of esophagus plus the top part of the stomach meaning a liquid only diet for the rest of her life. By end of February the following year all the treatment was completed and her daughter organized a surprise 60th birthday party which went great. She has now been cancer free for 22 months and sings the praises of the NHS. This is in County Durham.

DebzinUS

Everyone, Thanks so much for sharing your experiences. I plan on staying in the US until my treatment is complete and hopefully, I will be in remission when I do finally make it home. I'll keep all posted. Wish me luck! Deb

SanDiegogirl

Yes, good luck to you. I think you have made the right decision to stay in US and to continue your treatment here.

From what I hear and have read, you need to be prepared to advocate strongly in the UK to make sure you receive the very best treatment.

durham_lad

Our long time friend and neighbor has just experienced the best and worst of the NHS this week. A few months ago he was told he need a total hip replacement and was put on the waiting list and told 3 months. He was duly given a day of October 17th then a couple of weeks before the operation told it had been delayed to October 31st. That was Tuesday this week and he had a very successful op, was walking using 2 canes the same day and released next day. He is almost 81 years old, and has had 2 very successful open heart surgeries to replace a faulty aortic valve (the first one lasted 15 years). Yesterday (Friday) he called me to ask if I could run him down to the doctors to see his GP at 3:45 as he had had a “fainting episode”. Same day appointment, very impressive, but later his wife (81) around 2pm called me to say that his heart had started racing and he felt really unwell so their daughter had taken them to the hospital, A&E. They decided to keep him in overnight for observation and he then lay on a trolley in a cubicle for many hours before discharging himself at midnight and his daughter drove them home. He did get to speak to a doctor who told him that his racing heart (98 bpm) was caused by low BP, which has caused the fainting episode, and to stop taking his BP medication for now and make an appointment to see his GP. Talking with him he admitted that he had been going at his hip physio exercises like a bull in a China shop, and this evening he is feeling much, much better.

It really is hit and miss at times. He has been so pleased to have had a pretty short waiting time for a new hip, very successful op so far, but then to hang around for many hours in A&E and still fail to get admitted has put a dent in his love for the NHS.

calman014

Postcode lottery is the right term for anything regarding healthcare in UK right now.
You are better off getting the condition dealt with where you are, which is going to be a long ride anyway both physically and mentally.
I have personal experience of this.
Put the UK move aside for now and concentrate on yourself.
You can do a bit of research later based on where you want to move to in UK.

brits1

Hi I cannot comment on Oxfordshire but Some of my in laws have had cancer and living in various parts of the north west and all received excellent treatment and after care. Good luck with your treatment and recovery and hopefully you’ll soon be living in Oxfordshire and what you are now going through will soon be a distant memory.

Helen1964

Getting a cancer diagnosis in Northern Ireland could be interesting given the difficulty of seeing a GP. Who, as you will know, is the gatekeeper for all specialist care, unless of course you can afford to go private.

I’m here now visiting and yesterday over lunch I asked my Mum and her 93-year-old boyfriend about their experiences in getting access to primary care.
They are with different GP practices but the procedure is the same.
The phone lines open at 8.30 am.
So start calling from 8.30 on the dot.
The line will already be engaged because lots of other people are trying to call too.
An automated message will tell you you’re maybe 40th in the queue.
So you hang on, and - if you’re on a cordless landline - hope the battery doesn’t die from the handset being off the cradle for too long (Note to self: make sure next cordless landline handset has a very long « talk time »).
Around 10.30 another automated message tells you the practice has the full complement of patients that it can safely handle for today.
And that you should try again tomorrow.

No idea how it works in other parts of the UK but that’s the reality here.
I suggest that anyone thinking of moving to the UK gets the telephone number of a couple of GP practices in the area they’re thinking of moving to and tries giving them a ring to see how long it takes to get through.

calman014

This is the sad picture through the majority of the UK. Most have given up and just drive to A&E which is also where most dental patients are turning up as well now. It's a shambles.

christmasoompa

My elderly parents and mother-in-law have the same battle. Both of of their GP practices have the standard NHS online appointment bookings system which most people use, but they’re not prepared to. They insist on phoning at the same time as all the other people who won’t use the online system, and the same time everybody else is phoning to get results from tests etc, so they rarely get through.

The vast majority of practices now are online for things like appointments or repeat prescriptions, so I’d suggest anybody moving checks that first.

Helen1964

No online appointments system at either my mum’s or her boyfriend’s practice, unfortunately.
They operate a telephone triage system only.

christmasoompa

Definitely not through the NHS online system? I thought all practices had to have signed up to that by now, but maybe that's only in England.

Helen1964

Some GP practices in NI offer online appointments but not all. Hopefully this will change in the future. I’m quite impressed at how willing my 81-year-old mum and her friends are to use technology. Even the 93-year-old boyfriend does Wordle on his iPad.

I think they would find an online system less stressful than having to hang on the phone for hours when they’re feeling ill. Assuming of course slots are available.