If you have been following my blog and social media channels recently you will know that my 3 year old daughter received a diagnosis of glue ear following a hearing test she had at the beginning of June.  We have also been to see the Doctor this week and suspect that she suffers from Rhinitis which may be a contributing factor, and she is now receiving treatment in the form of a nasal spray for this as well.  It’s interesting trying to convince a 3 year old to spray something up her nose, but it helps that the doctor gave it to her.  We have been calling it the nose tickle, which seems to help too.

child standing watching monkey

Following the hearing test we were referred to the Ear, Nose and Throat Department at our local hospital for a consultation appointment.  We waited a few weeks for the appointment to arrive, and when it did I was a little shocked to read that this wouldn’t take place until late in September.  Time is ticking by for my daughter, and if you take a look at the NHS website they say it’s time that could effect her developmental progress:

“identifying hearing loss late can have a negative impact on a child’s language development, social skills and self-confidence”

Knowing what we know now, we suspect that our daughter has been struggling with glue ear for a long time.  It could have gone on longer if I hadn’t of pushed for a referral for a hearing test when I spoke to the health visitor on the phone.  When I discussed the issue of her word pronunciation, she told me that it wouldn’t necessarily be something they were concerned about until she was 3 1/2 years old.  Alarm bells started ringing, especially as this was a conversation we were having over the phone and the health visitor wasn’t able to hear an example of what we were discussing.  I asked for the hearing test referral as it was something that I had been concerned about for a while, but hadn’t been sure if those concerns were founded or not.

child watching monkeys at Monkey forest

Our Experience with the NHS so far

The first thing I did when we received the date for our hospital consultation was to ring the hospital to discuss if there was any other availability.  They operate some kind of central appointments system, and I was told there were no cancellations or earlier dates available.  I was put through to the consultant’s secretary, but as I was greeted by an answer phone message I left my details and requested a call back.

Unfortunately, my call wasn’t returned.  That was frustrating, but in the next breath I know the challenges people face in the public sector and getting back to everyone can be a challenge.  I rang back a few days later and I was able to speak to the secretary directly.  She agreed she would look into my request and get back to me.  She never rang back.  Once I can forgive, twice IS frustrating.  I left a further message following it up, but I didn’t even receive a courtesy call saying nothing could be done.  Communicating with patients and their carers is so important and I am still feeling disappointed with my experience.

playing in sensory garden

My husband’s company do offer private medical insurance, but my OH hadn’t got a clue what they offered and what he was signed up to.  It sounded like our daughter’s treatment could be covered so everything was put in place through his work.  I’d already found a private clinic that would see our daughter, and we had an appointment so see the same consultant that we had been referred to under the NHS.

Using Private Medical Insurance To Treat Glue Ear

So, with medical insurance in place, a private consultation under our belt and confirmation that having grommets inserted and possibly adenoids removed would be a reasonable course of action you’d think that we would have some peace of mind by now.  Unfortunately we don’t, but hopefully it will get sorted out soon so that we can arrange time off work and the after care my daughter will need following surgery.

I have so many mixed feelings about having our daughter treated privately for her glue ear.  There is obviously a lot of pressure on NHS services and they are struggling to cope with the demand.  The private sector is growing, and we saw the consultant in a new hospital that was completed only 3 months ago.  NHS trained doctors and nurses are working in these hospitals, taking resources away from a sector that is already struggling to provide services to the public.

Sensory garden rushcliffe

Will Private Healthcare be the End of the NHS?

More and more companies are providing medical insurance packages to their employees, so less and less money is available for the NHS.  That’s probably a very simplified way of looking at it, but the political agenda is clear.  As a country, we don’t have a culture of using private medical insurance as we have always had an NHS.  Employers offer private medical cover as a ‘perk’ so that we don’t feel like we are buying private medical insurance in the same way as if we went to a provider and bought it directly. We feel like we are receiving a privilege, but in reality we are buying medical insurance cover, it’s just being marketed in a very clever way.

We are lucky that we have the option to use private medical insurance, but I can’t help but think about all those people who can’t afford that option or aren’t offered this particular perk through their work.  We were told that if we waited for the surgery my daughter needs through the NHS it could take months.  It wouldn’t surprise me if we were looking at next year to get her hearing restored.  There has been a 50% increase in referrals to that department this year, and the resources aren’t increasing to meet that demand. In fact, the resources needed to meet that increase in demand are working in the private sector.

child at son bou beach

Our daughter will be treated for her glue ear in the same hospital and by the same team as if we waited to be seen under the NHS.  The difference is it will happen approximately 6 months sooner, because we have access to private health care.  I’ll be honest, jumping the queue isn’t a nice feeling when you think about what happens to the children struggling with their hearing, speech development and social skills.  I guess they get left behind, for a while at least.  I’m not going to pretend that I know what the impact of is for a child, but there has to be some debate there about the class divide that exists in this country and the impact it has on their health and well being, don’t you think?

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12 COMMENTS

  1. It’s a worrying trend – it’s such a sad fact that you have to go down this route as I had to as well
    Good luck -it will make a world of difference once the grommets are in

  2. Dont feel guilty for going private, your husband is entitled to it and you are doing what is best for your daughter and like you said the longer it goes on the worse it is for her, I tried the nasal spray when megan had a cold to unblock her nose and she hated it xxx

  3. Sometimes you just have to do what is best for your child. I am glad things are moving along for your daughter now.x

  4. I would be going through the same thought process about issues in the NHS if I was in your situation. I’m glad your daughter will be treated soon though. What a state of affairs.

  5. We are waiting for a hearing test for our 4-year-old as she has speech problems too and it is taking forever. I was hoping it would have been sorted before she started school in September but I don’t think it will xx

  6. Oh, I can totally relate to this post. I’m based in Ireland but I’ve been dealing with our equivalent of the NHS for a long time as my 15 year old has food allergies, needed braces and my eldest has Ulcerative Colitis. Trying to get people to ring you back is nearly impossible! We don’t have private health insurance but I think you did the right thing to avail of whatever care is available to you. I certainly do feel that health care should be available to everyone, regardless of income and Ireland has become very geared towards privatisation also.

  7. I think with the NHS there is more of a priority with more serious cases. I’ve never had any problems with the NHS so far and I’m really glad we have such a fantastic health service, for free. You mentioned you’d been given an appointment, but you wanted a sooner one? I suppose that’s the problem with a free service, we just have to patiently wait our turn, but at least we get seen eventually.

  8. My poor husband suffers from glue ear now, so he would agree to going private and jumping queues as its a horrible illness and should be treated promptly for youngsters.

  9. Oh bless her – I hope it is all sorted very soon for you all. I need to see an ENT consultant with Lea and it will be up to a years wait on the NHS or £300 to have a private consultation! It is shocking. I am so glad you have access to healthcare. Kaz x

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