Help please! Have there been cases where private hospitals were able to treat someone when public hospitals were not able to?
I have a family member who has a tumor in an area where it is very complicated to remove and the TTSH doctor is saying the chances of surgery success and survival is low.
My family is planning to seek a second opinion from other hospitals, including private ones.
– I’m wondering has anyone encountered cases where the second opinion was entirely different in a good way?
– I’m not well-informed about the differences in public vs private hospital treatment, but have there been cases where private hospitals were able to treat someone when public hospitals were not able to?
My family is feeling pretty hopeless and depressed now and we’re going to grab onto any hope we can get our hands on.
Here are what netizens think:
- my mum passed away from pancreatic cancer. It’s insidious and known to be a a really tough cancer to treat. We too had also weighed the differences between the two and we had sought opinions from friends and relatives whom are surgeons or doctors. I’m pretty sure the doctors and nurses from government hospitals are more than equipped to handle their treatment and I do not think private vs government would make much difference except for the cost which can be exorbitant and can put your family into debt. If your family is in good financial standing, you could go private just for added comfort for your family member, the process and waiting time might be shorter and you could have selection of doctors. I do not think it makes a real difference in terms of treatment. As for now, I can only say the cancer is hard to treat. Please spend precious and quality time with your family member while they are still around.
- You will only know when you get the second opinion medical report. I know you are looking for reassurance that seeking a second opinion may turn out differently but it’s not going to happen that way. Other people’s experiences are based on their own circumstances, not yours. So you need to remember that. You will also have to face the extra task of weeding out factually inaccurate and unsound advice. Which I’m already seeing here. Best of luck.
- TTSH say tumour complicated to remove and has low chance of success, they are just telling you the truth. Private doctor will do for you at no higher chances of success. Please do get a second opinion. But unless there’s a mistake, there won’t be a big difference in opinions. Life has many unpredictable and helpless moments. Be brave and faced it. I lost both parents within 5 years, both to cancer. The pain, the helplessness, everything you can imagine, I have experienced. But I learnt one thing. If can’t improve situation, don’t bother overthinking. You will just make yourself more miserable. Better off to just face and accept.
- the reason why private hospital is better in treatment is because they use drugs which public hospital won’t. but of course the treatment is many times more expensive.
- In general, for Singapore, public hospital doctors are equally competent as private hospital doctors. But definitely feel free to seek a second opinion as any doctor can be wrong.
- My friend’s father had a terrible experience at a public hospital and the private doctor righted the wrong. Sometimes it’s “luck” depending on which doctor you get. I’ve had a really good local doctor at a public hospital before.
- The deal is that private doctors have a conflict of interest and will most probably tell you what you want to hear. That said, go ahead and ask for it anyway but keep the above in mind.
- For pancreatic cancer, the prognosis and treatment plan may not be very different even if you seek second or third opinion. But for somebody who has little knowledge of how the cancer can progress will benefit from the reassurance of hearing of another specialist. You can make an informed decision from there. My personal opinion is the gov run NCC is as good as those in private practice.