"Suspected male breast cancer"

Following intermittent pain and swelling over several months along with skin inflammation I visited the surgery for an appointment with a Dr. After careful examination the Dr decided to refer me to Hallamshire Hospital. Two days later Hallamshire phone with an appointment for the following Tuesday morning. This was conformed by letter and then a follow up call on Monday.

I attended at the requested time and was seen very quickly by a doctor. She suggested a CT scan which again was done very promptly.The scan was then checked by another radiologist. I returned to the waiting area and was seen again very quickly. The doctor gave her diagnosis, requested a blood test and prescribed a cream for the skin infection. After a reasonable wait for the blood test I then went to Boots for the cream. They said 20 minutes and this was accurate, albeit probably the longest wait. All done within 2 hours, brilliant.

Why do we have so much bad publicity and so little good? I find it ironic that the one procedure that was private funding, the pharmacy, actually took the longest!

Finally, as a pensioner, I believe in the NHS and did try private medical insurance. In both instances when I need surgery in the last three years the NHS were quicker. I gave up the insurance. However I do also believe that if we pay for something we value it more. A small payment for surgery and hospital visits would be a good deterrent for any abuse of the system.