Hi, I went with a private dermatologist. Didnt go to my GP...Just rang a local private hospital and booked an appointment as a "self funding" patient. The cost of a 1st consultation was £180 and follow ups are between £80-150 depending on the consultant. If you need blood tests you can still use your NHS GP to keep the costs down as private blood tests can be expensive. I only had to wait 2 weeks for an appointment (would have been even sooner if consultant wasnt on holiday) and everything very straightforward....if you can afford the cost, I would recommend doing it that way...no waiting lists, no waiting for a Doc referral.....and appointment time that suits you!  

Do you think I can get accutane on first appointment?
I'm really not into taking any antibiotics or using tropical stuff as I've used everything...

Hi, Yes...I've also taken many creams/antibiotics over the years and used Panoxyl 10% (10% Benzoyl peroxide) for most of the last 20 years but wanted to give my skin a rest(break the cycle)from all those chemicals....I am taking accutane to control over active glands and VERY oily skin (not helped by using all those chemicals for so many years). I booked my private appointment with the Derm and after a 30minute discussion, was able to start accutane the same day.  My Derm told me to have a blood test with my NHS GP as it would not cost anything and I could forward those results to her when I got them back. Most people might need to do a blood test before the Derm will give you the accutane but I'm only on a low dose and took accutane about 7years ago so Derm felt confident allowing me to start treatment same day.  I'm on a "low dose" (20mg a day) as treatment is to reduce my oil production in my skin and I'm now in week 8 and have been able to slowly reduce the amount of Panoxyl 10% I was using and at a point where I need to use very little now....lips are very dry but a good lip balm is sorting that out!  

Going back to your question...As you've tried antibiotics and tropicals in the past, I would see no reason why a private Derm cant/wouldnt agree to this treatment for you, you will need that first blood test, which can be done the day of your appointment(if you dont mind paying for a private blood test which can cost £100-200) or go to your GP and you might have to wait 5-7days for the results to come back and then pass them to your Derm.....

Not an expert but just wanted to try to help from my personal experience.....Hope this helps!

Any other questions, happy to help!

Kind regards

I have been to a private derm in the uk twice the consultations cost 150 a time here and I think it was a complete waste of time and money.

the first one I saw mentioned accutane straight away and my acne was defo very mild then so she gave me doxy and clindamycin this combo worked for a while.

I went back in summer this year and asked to see a different derm and again they just told me accutane but I do not want to go on this I have a history of anxiety and have suffered depression before and this is just not an option for me. The only thing she did different was reccomend I have a blood test for PCOS.

If if you want any blood tests etc done through a private derm it is gonna cost you a bomb she even told me herself if I want to consider accutane she would reccomend this to my doctor and I do it through the NHS cos of the cost.

In in my opinion both of them did or said no different than my NHS doctor has said to me and I ended up 300 pound down.

HiNatalielucy, Sorry you've not had a good experiencewith your private Derm appointments..I think every situation is different and somepeople that go to a private Derm have already tried antibiotics/creams/gels etc from their GP's and want to look at other options...i.eaccutane and as an NHS GPcant offer that treatment, then a private Derm is sometimes the best option for them.

I agree about NHS blood tests.....would never pay for them privately as the cost is very high andI would also agreeif accutane is not an option, then your NHS doctor can offer most of the same treatments....In my situation, Ihad a great experience using a private Derm and would highly recommend going down that optionif you can BUT again I would completely agree, that if accutane is not something you want to trythenyour GP canhelp and might be worth trying that option first.kind regards