NHS referral to private clinic

I think it all depends on postcode and where your treatment will be carried out. the waitlists are still NHS timings I believe.

@Francesca thanks, do you know if better to go to NHS hospital per GP’s jurisdiction first? Then transfer? Or will that then work against getting a potential NHS place at a private clinic?

I think just ask your GP - they will advise you on a list of places that you will be referred to. Unsure you can just pick a clinic (but I’m not sure!) you can then make a plan based on this info. What are your reasons for wanting to do this? I have plenty of friends that were successful first round via NHS and plenty of friends that were not when they went private. It’s your body and a bit of luck plays a huge part! Ask your GP if NHS do ICSI as this is key for issues with sperm issues. Also how many NHS rounds do you get? We got three (very lucky as normally it’s one) but still went private as the waitlist was crazy! We were seen within 7 days and started our round in 6 weeks. My plan was however to locate a consultant that did both nhs and private work so that if a round failed we could keep the same consultant and pay for a private round. For continuity and ease

Ok great thanks so much. I’m just trying to find any options that may be viable without the huge bills, but appreciate that a lot is luck. Thanks I’ll ask about ICSI! I think in my area it’s 3 rounds on NHS but not sure if this may mean waitlists are longer. Wow that is fast, amazing. Good idea on trying to get consultant who does both. Really helpful thank you for your advice

@Sophie no problem happy to help - if you are worried about bill then 3 rounds on NHS is the way to go!! One round for us private from start to finish was £15k. There are payment plans if you go private with most clinics but if you get 3 goes NHS then 100% do this. I was 38 so time wasn’t on my side to wait even 6mths (it would have been but in my head it felt like an age!) Good luck :)

You basically pay to be seen quicker is the long and the short. For context I was pregnant by the time I was referred as I kept my nhs waitlist slot open just in case as a plan B. The care I assume is the same :)

Your gp will put in a request referral for you to a clinic the nhs also has run private clinics soo would generally be in your local specialist hospital The referral takes 6/8 weeks to go through and depending on how busy the fertility clinic ls appointment vary The clinic will then want to do there own test which can take a while but once the issue is confirmed they will go ahead with treatment given that it’s safe to do so. We have been through 2 clinic and have just had bby on are 1st round Feel free to message me any further questions

@Francesca ok thanks that’s good reference! Will see what the NHS waitlists look like and make a decision. I’m 36 but always dreamed of having 2

@Julia thanks, yes I guess this is what I’m trying to figure out. If I go private with a clinic that is not in my borough, can that same clinic be the one I get my NHS referral to? I think I will do the same as you and go private and NHS to avoid just waiting on the NHS waitlist

@Sharn thanks for the advice. Do you mean 6/8 weeks from when you first see GP about issues (so including NHS standard tests etc.g hormones) or 6/8 weeks from when they confirm they can do referral due to identified issues? Congratulations on your baby after 1 round! X

@Sophie 6/8 to get a letter for your referral appt , then that clinic will want to do there own test

@Sharn ok great thanks