advice for moving to uk

[chandos]

am moving to the uk in 1 month. have always had this problem but recently lost 80 pounds. now far worse. have saggy  boobs bigger than a lot of women. advice for cost private and procedure for nhs. am uk citizen. it tears me up that i have lost all that weight and people think i'm a bigger freak than ever. thanks

[phantom]

Hello Chandos

There are loads of threads in the UK section that answer your question, just search throuth the UK section of the forum.

Here is a very quick guide:

Getting treatment on the NHS can often be difficult.  You need a sympathetic GP to refer you.  It can sometimes be difficult to get a suitable surgeon as some, in my opinion, are not particularly experienced at male reconstructive surgery.  You need to do a lot of research on this.

There are a number of private surgeons in the UK that carry out this work.  You can expect to pay between 2.5 to to 4K for the work.  The two names that appear most often for the private sector are Levick and Karidis.

[outertrial]

Its a shame that the search facility on this board is as good as useless, there are a fair few threads about the NHS if you hunt.

Its is possible to get treatment via that route but is becoming harder as it, along with a great many other non life threatening procedures that  used to be funded directly by hospitals themselves are being turned over to miserly PCT's (Primary Care Trusts) who will allocate funding to individual cases on mostly monetary grounds and your doctor has limited influence over their decisions.

Ive been back and forth and all the nhs people Ive seen have been great and very supportive but finding someone authorised to actually book me into surgey is all becoming so much like a Kafka novel Im beginning to think that the cost of 'free' treatment is becoming too high.

If the UK costs are too high then Europe is a more reasonable option and Ive been looking at a number of clinics there, the one I like most is in Barcelona but at GBP2500 is a bit high for me. Brussels is a popular place for cheap plastic surgery.

Some of the lads here have been going to Poland too, theres a long thread about it, based on what they say youd have to make your own decisions about whether you think youd be happy there.

[phantom]

I went for an initial consultation for the Brussels clinic in Manchester.  At £30, I was already suspicious.    I went in and told the Italian surgeon  that I wanted treatment for gynaecomastia.  He asked me to take my shirt off, had a grope and said "Yes, we can sort that.  We will make an incision around the areola and a cut about one inch down from the bottom of the areola and remove some fat."

The colour must have drained from my face when he described this procedure to me as I knew this was a very outdated style of surgery as it can leave significant scarring behind.  I asked who would be carrying out the surgery and he told me that it depended who was timetabled on the day!  He had no before and after pics.  The consultation lasted no more than ten minutes.

That was the best £30 I had spent to find out where not to go!  The surgery itself costs £1,750.  With flights and hotels you are looking at £2k - around half the UK cost.  But with no kind of assurance of workmanship, it is in my opinion, a complete rip-off.

[outertrial]

Yeah, my preliminary email enquiries wrote off the Brussels clinics actually, mostly as I found them very unresponsive apart from telling me to go to a consultation.

I would like to choose dr Jesus Benitez who has a clinic in Barcelona. He operates on gynecomastia for the Spanish nhs and does private as well for about gbp2500 which includes 2 nights in his clinic. If you have a loved one who wants to go with you they can stay in your room in the clinic for free.

He comes to the UK every 4 weeks or so and the consulatations are free, the soonest you can have the op is 5  weeks after the consult. Revision is free but you have to pay again if he thinks its grown back itself. He says hes never been asked to do a revision and he does about 15 private ops a year and several times that for the spanish nhs.

He seems very professional and all my emails have been answered in full within an hour or so - I just need to save the money as Im getting nowhere with the uk nhs  

[radio-boy]

What area in the UK are you mate? Whats the problem with the NHS?

[outertrial]

SE London, saw a GP last August - then 2 visits to an endocrinologist in Queen Elizabeth hospital and a 1st consult with a PS took me up to January. The PS said I needed lipo but would have to lose fat from my stomach and to come back in March as Id put on weight since I saw my gp.

Dieted like crazy went back in March, PS very apologetic  told me hospital has lost its funding and theyre turning people away left right and centre for much more serious problems and to go back to GP  in a month and ask him to apply to PCT for funding and then go back to the hospital in 2 months if he agrees and if the PCT agree in principle to help, which I understand will mean psychiatrists and more visits to the GP and back to the hospital.

Actually I should have gone to see my gp this week as the PS said he would send the letter now but I just dont feel like I can face it any more.  The PS didnt seem very optimistic  my GP would apply for funding for me so now I feel like Im back to square one having to convince my GP that I deserve help.  

[irish_dude]

am moving to the uk in 1 month. have always had this problem but recently lost 80 pounds. now far worse. have saggy  boobs bigger than a lot of women. advice for cost private and procedure for nhs. am uk citizen. it tears me up that i have lost all that weight and people think i'm a bigger freak than ever. thanks

Can I ask where you are originally from?

I had surgery with Mr. Levick in Birmingham last August.

Most private surgeons will charge you around the 3,500 mark.