Hi Everyone, I do hope everyone is travelling as well as they can be. Was hoping to hear of experiences and recommendations about Public v Private -North Brisbane. My GP has advised if I choose to go private then I need to find surgeon and they can send referral. Not sure where to start…have rang some surgeons, am feeling like I am looking for a needle in a haystack. Has anyone had experiences with going private and having significant out of pocket expenses? Or going Public and what wait times/facilities are like, that they are comfortable in sharing. Preliminary advice is that it is likely treatment will be Chemotherapy then surgery, nothing confirmed until appointment with surgeon.

Hello hope this helps , I have gone public through Metro North and live in Warner, I attend an annex of RBWH at TCPH for my chemo and will be having surgery with Dr Diana Tam who is highly renowned as very good surgeon and is so very lovely and open to discussing all the options moving forward when the time comes. My oncology team is fantastic as are the nurses I have zero complaints and the process took no time at all to start , I have not waited at all for anything.

I live in Morayfield and went public through the Royal Brisbane, cannot fault the care I got, with regular visits to the specialist clinic at Caboolture Hospital to see the Oncologist.

HiLago21 I am in Sydney and had my surgeries in the private system - double mastectomy and DIEP flap reconstruction.i had significant out of pocket expenses even though I was in a private health fund.I was lucky I had the funds available but if I didn’t I could have had treatment in the public system which many ladies have been very satisfied with..

Dr Diana Tam is my surgeon too! :)

I had no option but to go public, in the north of Brisbane, but I have been really happy with the care I have received in the public system, with Diana Tam as my surgeon (TPCH), and Penny Mackenzie as my radiation oncologist (RBWH).

Recommendations-North Brisbane -Public v Private- Surgeons

11 Replies

KalGal
Member
8 days ago
LP020406 thank you for the detail. It has helped immensely with building a picture of what might happen. The more I read of people's stories, the more I see that each has similar touch points but in varying order and time frames according to the individual.
I really appreciate you taking the time :)
LP020406
Member
8 days ago
I had no option but to go public, in the north of Brisbane, but I have been really happy with the care I have received in the public system, with Diana Tam as my surgeon (TPCH), and Penny Mackenzie as my radiation oncologist (RBWH).
- KalGal
  Member
  8 days ago
  Hi LP020406 , Can I ask how long you had to wait for your treatment to start when you went through the public system? Only if you feel you can share, of course.
  I am Brisbane metro too. I am brand newly diagnosed and have initial appointments to see a surgeon (private). I have no idea what my treatment will be but am slightly worried about the cost of going private. However I will get the quotes etc and weigh it all up.
  - tisme
    Member
    8 days ago
    though it seemed like such a long time it wasnt barely a month I think , including the biopsy at caboolture then to RBWH for treatment, 5 days a week for 5 weeks of radiation therapy.
Julez1958
Member
11 months ago
HiLago21
I am in Sydney and had my surgeries in the private system - double mastectomy and DIEP flap reconstruction.
i had significant out of pocket expenses even though I was in a private health fund.
I was lucky I had the funds available but if I didn’t I could have had treatment in the public system which many ladies have been very satisfied with..
tisme
Member
11 months ago
I live in Morayfield and went public through the Royal Brisbane, cannot fault the care I got, with regular visits to the specialist clinic at Caboolture Hospital to see the Oncologist.
Jewelsey
Member
11 months ago
Hello hope this helps , I have gone public through Metro North and live in Warner, I attend an annex of RBWH at TCPH for my chemo and will be having surgery with Dr Diana Tam who is highly renowned as very good surgeon and is so very lovely and open to discussing all the options moving forward when the time comes. My oncology team is fantastic as are the nurses I have zero complaints and the process took no time at all to start , I have not waited at all for anything.
- Elms
  Member
  9 months ago
  Dr Diana Tam is my surgeon too! :)
May2024
Member
11 months ago
Hi Lago21, I went private with Dr Ben Green. He was awesome & had such a calming presence! . He operates out of St Andrews War Memorial and The Wesley. I live on the north side of Brisbane but was happy to travel to have him as the surgeon. The cost had me almost having a heart attack but I would pay all of that again just to have Ben as my surgeon. In my opinion, he is the best of the best. I was out of pocket more than I would have liked, but I think that was probably down to our private health company. All the best with your ongoing journey!
Koncon25
Member
1 year ago
Hi, I was going to go private with Dr Wong from St Vincent's Chermside, I was going to self-fund. However, I had some other physical complications occur that were unrelated to the breast, so he put me into the public system at Royal Women's Brisbane. He was and is brilliant and has taken care of me with speed. He has also organised a lot of follow-up, to the point I had to slow things down to catch up. Can't praise him enough, I had to have a mastectomy with some lymph nodes removed. I am now in follow-up and dealing with the other health complications. All due to Dr Wong catching things and being thorough and fast. Hope that helps.