PRIVATE CARE FOR PATIENTS WITH BREAST CANCER: FIXED PRICE CARE
You may be in the position of being able to pay to have your operation done privately. The Bookings Manager at a private hospital will be able to give you an idea of the cost involved. Some private hospitals run a service known as Fixed Price Care: a price can be quoted to you before you enter hospital which covers the cost of your operation and a variety of other hospitalization costs. You should always ask to have the quotation in writing before you enter hospital, with a written note of everything it covers. At some hospitals, the fixed price will include accommodation, nursing, meals, drugs, dressings, operating theatre fees, X-rays etc.; at others only some of these are included. Once you have a quotation, you should not have to worry about any hidden costs that you had not accounted for. However, the price quoted to you by the hospital may not include the fees of the consultant surgeon or consultant anesthetist, and you may have to ask your consultant for a note of these.
With Fixed Price Care, all the hospitalization costs included by that particular hospital are covered should you need to stay longer than expected in hospital (usually up to a maximum of 28 days) as a direct result of complications arising from your original reason for admission. In other words, if you develop some problem while in hospital that is unrelated to the breast disorder which led to your need for your operation, the price you have been quoted will not cover treatment to deal with this. If, on the other hand, you should have a complication as a direct result of the breast disorder or of the operation to treat it, and your consultant decides to keep you in hospital for longer than originally planned, all the costs that arise from your stay and are included in the hospital’s fixed price (again, with the possible exception of consultants’ fees) will be covered. At some hospitals, the quoted price will also cover your treatment should you have to be re-admitted due to a complication related to your original operation and arising within a limited period of time after your original discharge.
The only extra charges that you will have to pay to the hospital will probably include those for telephone calls, any alcohol if you have this with your meals, food provided for .your visitors, personal laundry done by the hospital, hairdressing, and for any similar items such as you would have to pay for in a hotel. It is usually possible for a visitor to eat meals with you in your room, and for tea and snacks to be ordered for visitors during the day. (You will also have to pay these extra charges before you leave the hospital if you are being treated under private health insurance.)
It is important therefore that you ask in advance for written confirmation of the price you will have to pay for your stay in hospital and what is included in the quotation. If the hospital does not have a Fixed Price Care or similar system, make sure that all possible costs are listed.
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