Dee Dickens, 52, from Pontypridd, made the difficult choice to seek private healthcare even though she is ideologically opposed to it. After discovering a lump in her breast she was referred for a scan on the NHS’s two-week rule for suspected cancer. But after waiting six weeks, and being continually being told the waiting time was going up, eventually to a three-month wait, she was forced to pay for her own scan and appointment privately.
“In February last year, I found a lump in my breast, and went to the doctor that day. The doctor examined me and said, ‘I don’t like that.’ She said the lump was the size of the top of her index finger and she would rush me through for an urgent screening that would take no longer than two weeks.
“Two weeks later, I’d heard nothing so I gave them a call. They said that because of Covid, things had slowed down and it might take four weeks. They also said that if I got any new symptoms to call them back.
“A week later, one of my breasts had swelled up. It was itching and hot and it felt like it was infected. I felt unwell, too. But I was stressed to the gills. Every day, I was worried I was going to die. We know that we’re against the clock when it’s cancer.
“I went straight back to the doctor and she rang the hospital. They said, ‘We will put your patient right at the top of the waiting list, but it will now be six weeks.’
“It was horrendous. By now, I was having conversations with my husband along the lines of ‘when I die’. You become dramatic when you don’t know anything about what’s going to happen.
“At six weeks, I still hadn’t heard anything, so I called the hospital. They said that I was at the top of the list still, but it would now be 10 weeks. The wait was going up because, during the worst of Covid, they hadn’t seen anyone so they were now on catchup.
“I’d had enough. Every single day I was more and more worried and my mental health was worse and worse, and my family was having to deal with me crying over stupid things. Television adverts were enough to set me off. I asked the hospital if I could speak to a manager – I wanted to know if they were transferring patients to nearby Bristol, in England, where I’d heard the wait was shorter.
“When the manager called me, she said that they would be holding a meeting to decide if they should send patients to England in three weeks. And she said the wait would now be 12 weeks, which meant at least another six weeks of waiting for me. At that point I said I don’t want to have to have to go private and the manager pointed out in a snide manner that it must be nice to have the choice. As if I wasn’t feeling terrible enough.
“I was in Pontypridd high street bawling my eyes out. I had to call my husband to calm me down. I just sat there sobbing, thinking, ‘I’m going to die and this is the way it’s going to be.’ It was horrendous thinking it was going to take three months.
“When I got home my husband said, ‘It’s time, babe.’ For a while we’d been talking about going private. But I’d been resistant – we’re both very leftwing and believe passionately in the NHS.
“It was Friday afternoon and I called the private clinic immediately. They said: ‘We’ll see you on Wednesday.’ I couldn’t believe it. Luckily, we were getting married, and had some savings in our account – otherwise we wouldn’t have had the £600 for the appointment and the scan.
“After the scan, the doctor told me that the lumps were glandular tissue. The swelling, the pain and itching – were all stress related. As soon as he said, ‘You’re not going to die,’ they stopped.
“If anything had gone wrong I couldn’t have afforded private surgery or treatment anyway. I’m a student, and my husband is on a clerical-grade civil-service salary.
“The NHS is the only thing I’m truly proud of in the UK. What worries me is I can see it disappearing, if not in my lifetime then in my children’s lifetime. That’s one of the reasons I didn’t want to go private. It felt absolutely awful to have to make the choice I did.
“On the one hand, I knew I would have an answer. But on the other, I knew there were so many women who wouldn’t be able to do what I was doing. I felt guilty, I felt I’d put my own life above my principles.
“And I am furious about what happened. At the same time, several of my friends have been through cancer – with one of my best friends dying last year – and I’m obviously relieved I’m in the clear.”
