# Entitlement to NHS treatment?



## Fuzzy Logic (Sep 16, 2009)

Hello, for a while now I have been seeing a private therapist because the wait for an assessment by the NHS was so long, however I am worried about how this will effect by ability to get treatment on the NHS. If I admit to having private treatment for my problem, will I not be allowed state support?

I am wondering this because at the moment my family is paying for my therapy and it seems pretty expensive.


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## Zombie Sheep (Oct 3, 2009)

Hi Fuzzy Logic

Won't affect your entitlement at all, I openly admitted I'd had some (not very helpful) private therapy and the NHS weren't bothered at all, I've an assessment not far off now, I've been assured they will help me this time.

My gripes with the NHS in Suffolk can fill a book (I had to tone this post down a lot before I despatched it) but I don't want to discourage you from seeking the treatment that, by rights, should be available to you free in the UK. Best of luck.


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## Fuzzy Logic (Sep 16, 2009)

Thanks for that, my assessment is tomorrow, so I was feeling a bit nervous. I don't really want to give up my private therapist either unless I'm sure what the NHS provides is adequate.


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## Zombie Sheep (Oct 3, 2009)

Fuzzy Logic said:


> Thanks for that, my assessment is tomorrow, so I was feeling a bit nervous. I don't really want to give up my private therapist either unless I'm sure what the NHS provides is adequate.


I won't refer you to my experiences because I don't want you to get discouraged. I will refer you to my friend and his sister, both of them were helped through their problems very tactfully and quickly as far as I can tell, they couldn't afford private consultation so the NHS was their only option. They were helped to the extent that my mate's Agoraphobic (sp?) sister now lives in America with her husband and he himself has his Tourettes Syndrome very much under control and is living an outgoing, independant life. Credit where it's due.

Also, my experiences weren't so bad and largely down to me being vague about my problems. I know it's not easy to open up to these people but try your best though. If they don't know you have a problem (I couldn't really tell them I did) they won't help you. Like I say, I wish you all the best, and really don't want you to get discouraged by me, quite the opposite honestly. This could really help you. 

Edit: I've read this back and what I basically just said (without meaning to) is that the NHS is a lottery. Oh dear, I'm not helping again. Let me add that they not only saw me, at a time when treatment for anxiety wasn't at all common, but they also recently offered me a job as a sympathetic employer when nobody else would, despite not being very well, and without them I'd quite possibly not be here. Also, there is a new scheme (IAPT I think it's called, Improved Access to Psychological Treatments) that has increased access to therapy for depression and anxiety and other 'community' disorders so as far as I can tell they're doing a good job now. They weren't when I was first treated, they were all about hospital patients and not about community patients, but my recent experiences have been universally positive.


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## britisharrow (Jun 18, 2009)

Having had private treatment doesn't affect at all your entitlement to NHS services, unless of course you the private treatment has improved your condition and you no longer need the NHS.


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## Dominic83 (Nov 5, 2009)

Fuzzy Logic said:


> Hello, for a while now I have been seeing a private therapist because the wait for an assessment by the NHS was so long, however I am worried about how this will effect by ability to get treatment on the NHS. If I admit to having private treatment for my problem, will I not be allowed state support?
> 
> I am wondering this because at the moment my family is paying for my therapy and it seems pretty expensive.


Just wondering, do you know roughly how much it costs per session if you go private?
I'm on the NHS waiting list, but don't know if I can wait for therapy, by all acounts I could be waiting twelve months or more :roll


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## Ash09 (Apr 27, 2009)

I got a letter telling me there is a 20 week waiting list for cbt, the nhs is such a joke.


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