Eric White has major concerns about private insurers and the National Health Service - but is 'completely' satisfied with the service he has received privately from Nuffield Hospitals.
Mr White, 78, a retired engineering worker, has undergone two 'self-pay' operations at the Nuffield Wessex, just down the road from his home in Chandlers Ford, between Southampton and Winchester.
He first made contact with the Nuffield a year ago when he needed a repair to an old hernia operation. 'It was the usual story from the NHS: they were going to take a year or so. I was in some pain and restricted in movement. My wife and I had booked a six-week holiday in November - and the NHS route didn't fit in with those plans.' So he rang Nuffield Wessex at the end of May last year, saw a consultant and had the operation at the beginning of June. He paid a fixed fee of £1,250, which would cover any extra help he might need if there were any complications.
Under typical Nuffield financing arrangements, he paid a £250 deposit, took out a 12-month interest-free loan through Mercantile Credit and agreed to repay the other £1,000 in equal instalments over the next year.
In February this year, he and his wife set off on a round-the-world trip. When they got to Hawaii last month, Mr White was taken ill with gallstones. Due to go to Australia the next day, they agreed with the Hawaiian doctors that he would get the operation done there. But he found himself caught in a financial fight while his Australian surgeon prepared to operate. His travel insurer was raising issues about the reciprocal arrangements between the UK and Australia for emergency operations, hoping that it would not have to foot the bill if it could argue that the NHS would pay.
'I was in limbo and was also getting quite agitated,' says Mr White. After two days, he decided to come home and have the operation at the Nuffield Wessex.
He has paid the costs himself and hopes to be reimbursed (with compensation) by the travel insurer. But he feels that the Nuffield again managed to take the stress out of the situation and make it affordable for him. The treatment cost £90 for a consultant's fee and a further £2,860 for the operation itself. Mr White has paid the £90, and another £1,000 upfront; the rest will be paid off over the next year. But Mr White hopes, of course, that his travel insurer will soon step in and pay.
• There are 40 Nuffield Hospitals around the country. For information ring 0800 688699.
