View Full Version : private psychiatrist appointnment in UK
Hi, has anyone here ever made a private appointment with a psychiatrist in the UK for an assessment on GAD? If so how did it go and how much did it cost?
Not a psychiatrist but a counselor.
£35 -£45
It was fine...
wanting to see a psychiatrist really, seen CBT therapist but need go further really
I haven't had a private assessment, but I did get free counselling through my old work. My counsellor told me that the place to find a counsellor/therapist is here - http://www.counselling-directory.org.uk/ .
I think prices vary depending on the person, and I've also heard that some will reduce the price if you are unemployed.
I have seen a private psychiatrist recently. The steps were:
1) Google private psychiatrists in my local area.
2) Ring GP and say I want a private referral.
3) Get GP to write referral letter
4) Get appointment with private psychiatrist.
Mine charges £240 per hour. The initial appointment was 1 hr and there will be a follow-up of 1 hr, and now I'm headed back to the GP's care which is NHS again.
I think it is expensive, but probably worth it if you can afford to do it. I feel that in life, consulting the experts is usually worthwhile!
---------- Post added at 16:32 ---------- Previous post was at 16:31 ----------
ps feel free to PM me if you'd like more details!
thanks
What did the the pyschiatrist do for you?
Anything upwards of £250-300 depending on how "eminent" they are.
Top London ones can charge a fortune for an initial assessment. It certainly is worth your while to be selective and to study where the individual trained and what mental health fields he/she specialises in. It's also important that whoever you choose can communicate effectively in English....I know that's a dodgy comment but it's so important.
wow! that's a lot of money. I wonder if I could get a referral.
You would if you were able to pay to go privately
MyNameIsTerry
23-01-16, 04:48
Talk about gravy train. I think we should head to uni, pass some exams and start charging ludicrous sums of money then...well only if you don't have a conscience that is? :winks:
My GP wouldn't refer me to one, he said he couldn't - which I later found out to be a lie. So, he wanted me to go to a private one knowing how much it would cost just because he said he couldn't prescribe meds above standard dosages...yet on here there are many GP's varying peoples dosages. I'm smelled a rat back then and dismissed it. They really will make up some creative excuses to save themselves some cash, the Pregabalin board is a good example of that with some GP's even telling patients it's addictive so they won't prescribe it despite there being no medical evidence in the world that shows that. (then they dish out Benzo's! :doh:)
I don't understand why your GP couldn't refer you to an NHS psych? Most GPs are limited in their knowledge of anything related to mental health other than the standard "take these and come back in 2 months" spiel. Surely you were way beyond that?
MyNameIsTerry
23-01-16, 09:15
Yeah, it was just his BS. He said it wasn't allowed. But then he also told me after IAPT discharged me that he didn't like referring to the next level as "they cause more problems than they solve". Along with pleasantries like "you will find your own way out of this", blah blah, I just took it to be all about cash and that's when I walked away.
When he initially said that about the psychiatrist referral I was much much worse and not able to fight my corner. He wouldn't consider increased dosages or anything saying it was beyond his expertise which is garbage when you see what other GP's do. Just a cop out really.
I should have called his bluff but back then I didn't know all the things I know now.
To this day I am not diagnosed with OCD, just GAD. He clearly never read a single report back from the IAPT therapist who made recommendations because he just went the other way all the time. Whether it's all cash or her own ignorance, I'm not sure. I do know that any correspondence is dealt with by the receptionists and the GP's have very little time to review notes so there is always the possibility the reports were simply filed and a poor note added to the computer. The receptionists are well know for making mistakes, they cancelled my asthma meds once and wouldn't talk to a doctor insisting I make an appointment so I had to complain for one of them to get off their lazy arse to spend 2 minutes checking with the GP and hey presto, I'm diagnosed as having asthma again :doh:, I guess those previous 15 years of prescriptions just weren't enough evidence :winks: It's that type of practice...and it's not as bad as some others around here.
That sounds appalling, Terry. I think you really have to look out for yourself these days and those that can't are just submerged in the system. It seems like this is very much encouraged by the powers-that-be.
TalkTonight
23-01-16, 10:04
Hi Terry
My experiences of mental health treatment on the NHS have been nothing short of woeful.
After barracking my CPN for weeks I was finally granted an audience with a locum psychiatrist. His assessment culminated in him declaring 'he (me) needs help'. This was 16 months ago and I'm still waiting. Mercifully, I am able to afford a private therapist otherwise I shudder to imagine how my mental condition would have deteriorated.
The NHS, and in particular mental health, is criminally underfunded and it's a sad truth that making a royal nuisance of oneself is the only way in which not to get fobbed off.
It makes a nonsense of the "parity of esteem" claims, doesn't it?
If you have money you can access private mental health care very quickly but you have to be very careful. The Priory opens its doors to all and sundry if you can pay but this doesn't necessarily guarantee appropriate care, help and support to get better. Nor does it guarantee the necessary expertise to treat complex mental health illnesses.
MyNameIsTerry
23-01-16, 11:30
It makes a nonsense of the "parity of esteem" claims, doesn't it?
If you have money you can access private mental health care very quickly but you have to be very careful. The Priory opens its doors to all and sundry if you can pay but this doesn't necessarily guarantee appropriate care, help and support to get better. Nor does it guarantee the necessary expertise to treat complex mental health illnesses.
Those Priory people do make me wonder. They have some top field experts working in there but there is one member on here who went in and doesn't seem any different and I find myself wondering what exactly they did for her other than cash her cheque. :shrug:
---------- Post added at 11:30 ---------- Previous post was at 11:26 ----------
Hi Terry
My experiences of mental health treatment on the NHS have been nothing short of woeful.
After barracking my CPN for weeks I was finally granted an audience with a locum psychiatrist. His assessment culminated in him declaring 'he (me) needs help'. This was 16 months ago and I'm still waiting. Mercifully, I am able to afford a private therapist otherwise I shudder to imagine how my mental condition would have deteriorated.
The NHS, and in particular mental health, is criminally underfunded and it's a sad truth that making a royal nuisance of oneself is the only way in which not to get fobbed off.
Hi Talk Tonight,
That's dreadful. I'm glad you are taking your own care forward though, it's really what I have decided will be the case if I need it again unless I circumvent my GP completely.
I just don't understand how these people who spend years in training can't grasp the simple premise that putting more pressure on someone suffering from anxiety disorders only makes things worse. I had to fight to get CBT and it was only making me worse doing that. It should be smooth and taken out of your hands so that there are no further triggers but in many ways they actually contribute to it all.
I spent some time at the Priory many years ago. It was glorified baby-sitting.
TalkTonight
23-01-16, 11:43
Terry...
Ironically, one of the most stressful aspects of suffering from mental illness in my experience has been liaising with the NHS and the Department for Work and Pensions. Those purported to help seem to hinder the most. Very frustrating.
pulisa...
I was a patient in The Priory 8 years ago. The accommodation was impressive and the food scrumptious, but I'm not convinced (having since been treated residentially on the NHS) that the care provided by The Priory was any more effective. The only benefit, in my opinion, is the urgency with which one is admitted.
All this said, I have been fortunate to be tended by some excellent mental health professionals on my whacky journey thus far.
Mental health treatment has always been the Cinderella of the NHS.
A few services are now being offered such as CBT - which wasn't available a few years ago. In 2007 My GP's counselling service suggested a CBT practitioner in a neighbouring county charging £100/hour. I didn't go.
Terry, I can't understand why you were denied an NHS visit to a psychiatrist. How could your GP determine whether it would be useful or not. That's for you to decide!
Appalling treatment.
Ex Member Ricardo saw someone from the Priory for many years without improvement. I believe the guy behaved unprofessionally (with an actress?) & there was a big newspaper report. Like all professions, I guess there are good ones & bad ones!
I saw a psychotherapist from the Priory for ages who was later exposed in the press for having an affair with a patient (not me!:D). I never liked him but hadn't the guts to stop the sessions as he was keen to keep things going and I didn't want to annoy him and get re-admitted. Fortunately my private health care insurance ended and I could escape.
TalkTonight
23-01-16, 20:06
That's outrageous pulisa, though I imagine not altogether uncommon.
Following my discharge from The Priory, I continued to see the therapist I was assigned privately. He too found himself in hot water after sleeping with a patient (and former resident of The Priory).
It appears to be a veritable breeding ground for abuse of position.
MyNameIsTerry
24-01-16, 04:49
That's outrageous pulisa, though I imagine not altogether uncommon.
Following my discharge from The Priory, I continued to see the therapist I was assigned privately. He too found himself in hot water after sleeping with a patient (and former resident of The Priory).
It appears to be a veritable breeding ground for abuse of position.
My money is on Kerry Katona, based on the number of stays I reckon I could be in with a win there! :D
I guess it really is like Holby City after all? :ohmy:
Is it possible to see a private psychiatrist to get an assessment, take it to your own GP and get them to act on it?
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