Getting a vasectomy on the NHS

Does anyone know if it's easy to get a vasectomy through the NHS? My husband meant to ask the GP about it during his last appointment, but forgot. Are there long waiting lists? Is the GP the place to start?

Does anyone know if it's easy to get a vasectomy through the NHS? My husband meant to ask the GP about it during his last appointment, but forgot. Are there long waiting lists? Is the GP the place to start?

he he he..they always 'forget'.Mine has been 'forgetting' to ask our GP for the past four years and two kids later! 
Don't know how long the wait is but yes you should ask your GP. Good luck!!

he he he..they always 'forget'.Mine has been 'forgetting' to ask our GP for the past four years and two kids later!

I think I'd pin a reminder note to his shirt if it were two kids later! My husband, I think, genuinely is ready and willing to get it done. He just never did it before he met me because while he didn't want kids, he would entertain the idea if the woman he married did want kids. And since he married me, I say "snip, snip!" Now we just need to talk to the GP and get the ball rolling (oops, slight pun there!).

Yes it's easy, I don't remember how long it takes from the initial GP's appointment to the actual op itself though.

The GP will probably want to speak to you both to make sure you're in agreement before he gives the go-ahead.

Husband said his took 4 weeks from start to finish through his GP.  Follow up test are six months later and then six months after that to make sure it worked.

He said it was simple and didn't take much.

~BEG

Husband said his took 4 weeks from start to finish through his GP.  Follow up test are six months later and then six months after that to make sure it worked.

He said it was simple and didn't take much.

~BEG

Cool, good to know. I'll call the GP next week, I think.

Just an update ... my husband saw the doc, who wrote a letter to whomever to get my husband on a list for a vasectomy. Then a week or so later the doc called back and said they wouldn't do one for my husband as it wasn't a priority.

when is a vasectomy a priority?

when is a vasectomy a priority?

maybe when one's fertile Myrtle like moi! 

so its either yes or no? not a waiting list or anything? that's not cool. and I agree that vasectomies usually aren't priorities anyway. what a crock.

when is a vasectomy a priority?

When it's cheap as chips, effective and much cheaper than ANY delivery on the NHS.

When it's cheap as chips, effective and much cheaper than ANY delivery on the NHS.

You beat me to it, expat!!! 

It didn't really make any sense to me, either. The doc didn't explain, just said there were "alternatives" -- like putting me on birth control pills, which I don't like taking due to side effects. It doesn't make sense, especially when you consider a surgeon could probably do a dozen vasectomies in a day! I don't know when it would be a priority, either. Maybe for someone who already had several children (we don't have any and would like to keep it that way).

It's a bit of a crock, as the taxes we pay here are basically like paying for medical insurance. And in the states, many insurance companies would cover a vasectomy. Here, you pay for the services but then get denied them (as was the case when I needed to see a specialist for my knees and just had to do that on my private insurance as the doc told me it was basically not worth it to even try to see one on the NHS). My husband isn't on private insurance, though, so no vasectomy until we can get back to the States and get covered by real insurance again. (and it's not like my private insurance from the states is working well here -- they're confused as hell by the fact that I live in the UK and haven't been paying me back, but that's another story.)

Are you able to switch surgeries at all?  When I first moved here, the surgery I registered with was a godsend (especially coming from *years* of no medical insurance in the US).  But then we moved to the countryside and had to switch surgeries and this one is the absolute worst.  Seriously; I may as well not have a GP.  Last visit was for what I considered to be a very serious medical condition only to be fobbed off with 'take some paracetemol'.  Luckily, DH has private medical through work and after many expensive tests (and despite falling asleep in the MRI machine), the condition was diagnosed and I was given the proper meds.

I've found out the hard way that not all GP surgeries are the same here. If you can switch, give it a go.  I wish I could.

Also, have you tried the family planning clinic at your local NHS Walk In Centre?  That's where I go for my birth control anyway.  They may be able to give you better advice. 

It only costs about £100 or so privately.