Hi all,
I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask this, but 2 weeks ago at the GP I was given an urgent 2WW suspected cancer referral for a mole.
I chased up the hospital as today marks 2 weeks and they said that the derm department is so slammed that it's likely to be another 6 weeks before they can even try to get me in!
The GP has suggested via text that I could go private for the check if I can afford it, and for my peace of mind I'm happy to do that, but I wanted to check - if I go private for the initial check and they do find something that needs more treatment than just excision, can I then go back to the NHS? I could afford the check and excision, but not longer term treatment if it was needed and I don't want to shoot myself in the foot.
Fingers crossed the GP is just being cautious and it's just a normal mole, but it's been weighing on me the last couple of weeks just in case.
Thanks in advance!
Hi sataycats and a very warm welcome to the online community which I hope you'll find is both an informative and supportive place to be.
Waiting for an appointment to come through is always an anxious time, but before I tell you about my journey between private and the NHS I just want to let you know about the current cancer wait targets.
It's very disappointing to see that your GP doesn't know that since October last year the 2 Week Wait has been replaced by the 28-day Faster Diagnosis Standard. It's hard enough having to come to terms with a possible cancer diagnosis without your GP giving you wrong information about how quickly you should be seen.
If you want more information on the 3 key cancer waiting time standards within the NHs now, clicking here will take you to the information from Cancer Research. Anyway, I'll get off my soapbox now!
I had my initial consultation privately and, because I didn't have health insurance, the consultant said that he'd write to my GP asking him to refer me to his NHS practice to have the mole removed. This speeded things up initially, as I was able to see the consultant privately only a couple of days after I'd seen my GP, but then had to wait about 8 weeks to have the lesion removed under the NHS. I'll add that there wasn't a rush to remove the lesion because the consultant didn't think it was melanoma and I'm sure if he had then I'd have had it removed sooner.
Because I'd had the excision done under the NHS my subsequent treatment and follow-ups have all been under the NHS. I don't know how easy it is to swap back to the NHS after a private excision but I'm sure there'll be people here who've done it.
I would normally suggest that you speak to your GP about how easy it might be to swap after a private consultation and excision but, under the circumstances, I'm not sure how accurate their information will be! Anyway, let us know what you decide to do.
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
Hi latchbrook
Thank you so much for your reply - I had heard of the 28 day FD, but I had thought it was the next stage after the 2WW.
Thank you for the link and for the benefit of your personal experience, I'll give it another two weeks and hopefully the hospital will have confirmed an appointment date with me, if not I'll look into a private doctor with an NHS affiliation.
I'm glad that you were able to get your mole cleared and sorted swiftly - here's hoping that my process speeds up!
Thanks again, that has put my mid at rest a bit 
One thing you could do to possibly speed things up is to tell the dermatology appointments clerk that you can take a cancellation, if you're able to do that at short notice.
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
