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[Guest guest]

Hello ,

I hope you are already feeling better from those pains and from your

worry etc. I'm thinking about you.

You mentioned insurance in GB. Most people don't have private

medical insurance and rely totally on the NHS. A lot more people do

have private insurance to-day than in the past and each policy is

different. Mine, for example, will just pay for any procedure which

is deemed medically necessary and cannot be carried out within six

weeks on the NHS. (Obviously, emergency illnesses are dealt with

quickly anyway.) However, one would/could not usually choose to have

a procedure of the magnitude of a pancreatectomy outside the NHS

because it is the big NHS hospitals which have the sort of equipment

etc. necessary for such things. In any case, some specialists either

choose not to have private patients or may even not be allowed to by

the nature of their contracts. It sound complicated when I describe

it!

The pancreatic team in the hospital where I am being treated does

not have private patients so I could not access all the expertise I

need for my particular condition outside the NHS. I can access

genetic couselling and testing, info on the latest research,

panc specialists and surgeons through this team. It's the same

hospital that my gastroenterologist is in.

One can always ask for a second opinion (on the NHS) anyway but it

would take a bit of time, unless it was an emergency. The thing is,

my panc specialist/surgeon is one to whom people are often referred

even when they live elsewhere, are difficult cases or want a second

opinion!! I was told by the secretary of the (British) Pancreatitis

Supporters' Network how fortunate I was to have access already to

this particular specialist. In any case, I don't think auto ICT is

done much here (although there HAVE definitely been some trials) but

I'll find out more tomorrow.

Anyway, you take care and I really hope the situation improves

rapidly. I'll be waiting to hear how things are. Thanks for your

ideas and info.

Best wishes and hopes,

Fliss