I truly think the NHS offers the best service when it comes to chemotherapy.  My husband had five years of care and finally died January of this year.  The care and understanding of the nurses is one of the best there is on offer.  If Dad has been diagnosed then a time line will be followed under Trust guidelines so to go private seems a waste of money and time.  I hope I've helped a little in your thoughts of how to move forward.  Kind regards, Carol 

Hi Carol, thanks so much for replying. 
So sorry to hear that, I'm glad your husband and yourself had a good experience to make it as easy as possible. I do agree with you regarding the NHS, we are big fans as they treated my Mum for Breast cancer a few years ago, we couldn't fault them. 

i think my parents and family would rather stick with the NHS but my dilemma is time, it is advanced stage and he is likely to not start chemo on the NHS until possibly first 2 weeks of October, it just seems so far away. The money isn't so much an issue if we knew that we could at some point, move back to the NHS.

We did ask one of our nurses but she wasn't sure.  

Thanks for your reply! 
 

the NHS have been great and I know the care and treatment is just as good as private. My concern is the waiting time my dad has been given to start his chemo and it may really make a big difference. It may not but we haven't been given any details to ease the worry.. 

Ideally we would stick with the NHS as they are so good at what they do, already the nurses have been brilliant. It's more the timing issue.. 

A can of worms and just such a worry to know if you're doing the right thing. 

The elephant in the room would be, would the NHS offer the same drugs as what he's receiving just now? Some things given privately can't be given via the NHS. If you haven't enquired about that yet (assuming you have but just thought i'd bring it up on the off chance you haven't), I'd ask about that.

Great point. We're waiting for confirmation on a consultation with a private oncologist so I'll add it to my list of questions. 
 

The more we query it the more hassle it seems and is likely to cause more issues along the way. If the NHS could offer his initial oncologist app and treatment sooner, it would be a no brainier.. 

Can I just reiterate that the NHS guidelines ensure that once the staging has been agreed and the MTD meeting held that you will immediately be given an appointment within the time required to treat him.  It seems to be muddying the waters to involve more people, I assume he's been diagnosed and is now on the list for treatment.  Good luck, Carol 

Yes, I think you're right. We have had both and been giving the date as to when he will meet with the oncologist, who I assume will then offer a date for start of treatment. 
 

it could be another 4 weeks until he receives treatment which seems so long, it's advanced stages. I think we'll just have to roll with it and hope we get to the treatment. 
 

thanks Carol x 

It may seem a long time but patience is a virtue and chemo does start working when given.  My husband's was being delayed by a week and the hospital would be fined so they giot us in on the day of that he was going to have the talk, so in one afternoon he had instructions on what would happen and his chemotherapy, talk about jumping in at the deep end.  Norman's was stage 4 and incurable but he lived for another five years, yes it was hard but the good days outweighed the bad.  Thinking of you all.  Carol 

My Dad also has stage 4 and incurable. It sounds like Norman was very strong -  I needed to hear this today, the thought of another 5 years is a blessing. Thanks for taking the time to chat to me, it does make me feel better about the wait and that hopefully, it'll be okay. I'm thinking private could only be maybe 2/3weeks sooner, so perhaps well worth waiting it out xx