Has anyone successfully transferred from seeing Dr Surenthiran privately to on the NHS. He suggested that for me and I have requested my GP to refer me on the NHS. I rang the surgery to chase it up and apparently a lengthy letter is on its way to me. That makes me think they are not going to agree to my request. If that is the case is there anything I can do about it? I do live a long way from Kent so that is possibly one of the reasons there may be a problem but I thought we could choose which hospital we go to? x
Hi Jem.
See what the letter says first but You could always contact DR S secretary for advice
My GP letter arrived today and as predicted they are refusing to refer me to Dr Surenthiran on the NHS. They say that I have had a treatment plan from Dr Silver with 5 potential medications and they cannot consider referral to Dr S until I have exhausted Dr Silver’s treatment and if that does not work and he agrees he can help me no further then they could consider referral to Dr Surenthiran but it would still have to go through their Bespoke Funding Panel!!!
Has anyone else encountered anything like this and what can I do?
Oh no Jem that is not good. Dr S offered to transfer me to the NHS after my 1st appt but I said I’d prefer to stay private so I’m not sure if I will encounter something similar if I do decide to go via the NHS. Is there a process to appeal the decision on your case? xx
Thanks Lizzie, no there is no mention of appeals just if I want to discuss further I should make an appointment with the surgery! x
Hi jem
Hows things?
I would speak to dr s secretary for advice, go down the docs and kick off!! Or even change docs. Pardon my french but there bastards!! :evil: im sure there is something you can do
Hi Rob
Thanks for your reply. I have emailed Dr S - hope it’s the right email address I got off the internet. Will see what he advises but yes I have already drafted a letter with a few choice points about their decision. I only want them to transfer me to Dr S it’s not like I want to see both consultants at the same time. Feels like they are trying to force me to do something I don’t want just to protect their budgets/targets!
I will let you know how I get on x
What a load of balls - poor you jem 
that’s so annoying and yet another example of how our condition isn’t taken seriously. Get on the phone first thing Monday and speak to dr s secretary. The worst part is what the gp doesn’t understand is that this will cause you anxiety therefore FUELING this crappy thing. Big hugs xxxand good luck xxx
Really hope u can sort it out Jem, was thinking about this a bit more and I mentioned to my GP that I’d seen Dr S privately and she was asking about him etc and I told her he’d been on ‘Embarrasing Bodies’ and she said she’d note him down as a balance specialist for future referrals…so she was indicating that she’d be happy to refer me and she had already referred me to an ENT when all this dizziness began…
They don’t mention anything about him being geographically far away from u do they? or are they refusing purely on the basis that they have offered you one specialist referral already? I think you’ve done the right thing e-mailing Dr. S. let us know how u get on, good luck. xx
Thanks for all your support guys. The letter they sent is quite long and basically they are saying that because they sent me to one specialist who gave me such a detailed treatment plan then they are ‘surprised’ that I have asked to see another specialist in Kent. I suppose it is because he is out of their locality and they are sort of implying that Dr Silver’s letter and plan was more detailed and better than Dr S’s so they can’t understand why I would want to change consultants. That is what is implied anyway. I have emailed Dr S anyway so I will see what he advises before I write back to them! x
I had the same problem with my GP surgery. They said they would not refer me from private to NHS as he was outside their catchment area. I made an informal complaint to my GP saying that if they refuse my treatment with Dr.S then they are stopping my right to recover from an illness that they couldn’t even diagnose themselves and that the previous doctor has not made me better in the past year and a half so I have every right to choose who treats me! It shouldn’t matter that he was outside of the area or that I was seeing another specialist at the time. If I believed that he was the doctor who was going to get me better and I had a referral letter from him to my GP, what was the problem? It took several phone calls but I now see Dr.S through the NHS 
Jem
I am so angry on your behalf! Your GP is talking complete balls in every sense with my old GP I was reffered between Leicester and London at different times and was never told I couldnt change your GP just doesnt want to fund this.
I would write to PALS stating your case and why you want to see Dr S over Dr Silver really lay it on thick write to them they will liaise with the GP on your behalf.
This gets me so mad :evil:
Hi Trish and Donna
Thanks for your messages. I have done a letter to the GP along the lines of what you said and if they still say no then I will look into complaining. I hadn’t heard of PALS but will definitely look into that. It is all about funding for them. I think they are saying that they referred me to Dr Silver who was outside my area so I cannot be referred to someone else outside the area due to the cost. However I have pointed out that it would be wasting money for the NHS to pay for me to see Dr Silver when I am taking different advice from Dr Surenthiran privately. Basically Dr Silver is not going to carry on seeing me if I am taking another consultant’s advice so if they won’t transfer me to Dr Surenthiran then future appts with Dr Silver will be a waste of NHS time/money.
How are you both? Seeing improvements…hope so?
Jemma x