Are public hospitals good for gyno laparoscopy?

[beebump]

Hi everyone,

My long story short... was discussing with my gyno about my baby plans and she recommended that I remove my ovarian cyst (5cm) and uterine fibroid (5cm) now to allow things to heal before conception. I'm a bit scared about going under the knief. Anyway gyno says the operation would be done by laparoscopy and assures me that its a very common procedure (laparoscopic ovarian cystectomy and laparoscopic myomectomy).

I find out that it's very expensive done privately (6 figure sums!), so I'm researching whether I should do it in a public hospital instead, since I'm not concerned about the frills/ waiting and only focusing on the skills of the surgeon. Does anyone know whether public hospital gyno surgeons are equally good?

Does anyone have any experiences of laparoscopy in public hospitals? Public hospitals that I'm looking at are Queen Elizabeth, Prince of Wales and Kwong Wah, which seems to be the biggest in HK that I know of. I get the impression that HK public hospitals are pretty high standard, so should there be any reason that I should't get it done in a public hospital?

Any advice would be great. Also, if you've had the procedures done, I'd like to hear about your experiences too. Thank-you so much!

 

[rani]

As its an elective surgery rather than emergency am not sure how easy it is to do in a public hospital. You may have to wait a few months to get an appointment. Is there a Gov't maternal clinic near you? Perhaps make an appt and speak to the Dr/ Nurse there and see if she can refer you to the hospital for the surgery.

 

[beebump]

Thanks rani, I've spoken with the gynos at the public hospital and they put me in the queue. I'm ok with the waiting, but the gyno said whichever doctor on duty on the day of my surgery will carry out the operation - so I have no idea who will do it or any more details!

It's a bit worrying since it is major surgery, so I'm wondering if anyone else has had experiences with laparoscopy at public hospitals. Anything to be concerned about the level of skill/ experiences of their gynos for laparoscopy? Thanks

 

[CharlieGirl]

Hi beebump,

This may be a bit too late in your case but hope it will help others in a similar situation.

I've had an ovarian cyst removed in QMH via laparoscopy surgery a couple of years back and it went a-ok! The doctors and nurses were lovely. I couldn't chose the surgeon and saw different drs each time but in the end it was not a problem. Each dr I saw (during inital consult, at pre-surgry consult and just before the surgery) went over what to expect with me very carefully and I was proactive in bringing up any key concerns each time...even if I can to repeat myself 3 times or so! Also I am very happy with the recovery process and scars, if I wear a bikini you couldn't see them and they have faded away nicely.

Hope everything went well with your surgery.