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I hope this is in the right section. I was living in Germany when I was diagnosed with sleep apnoea five years ago, but now I've moved back to England. I do still have German private health insurance. I have an NHS GP but I can go for private treatment. I'm in a London borough. What I'm trying to work out is how things work here.
I want 1) to have the pressure on my machine and my mask reviewed and the pressure possibly lowered from 14 to 12 as it once was, so I could use a nasal pillow mask 2) to get a different machine, which my insurance will pay for after five years. I have a ResMed Autoset Spirit II S8. I would like one with a heated tube, which is the later model, or a different manufacturer (a subject for another thread).
I was referred to a specialist at a private hospital, the same person I would have seen on the NHS at a later date. It turned out that he was only interested in surgery, which wasn't what I wanted. He said he might do surgery if I got my BMI down. He recommended a device which he said I couldn't have because my teeth are wrong for it. He said that if I want the machine reviewed and the pressure adjusted I have to go straight to ResMed in London and they will read the card. (I've got some old software but I need help if I want to change the pressure down).
I can see that going to ResMed would solve a lot of my problems quickly. But I don't understand that we live in a free market economy and ResMed is taking over here (and in Germany too).
The system in Germany was that I was supposed to go to an ENT specialist once a year and that person would read my machine, and if I might need a pressure change I was given a device to use for a night at home, with a clip to go on my finger too, and then maybe sent to the sleep laboratory for a night.
The only other person with sleep apnoea I have met here goes once a year to a local hospital where a nurse reads his card and reviews the situation.
Does anyone think I might have an alternative than going to ResMed? What do other people do for checkups?
I want 1) to have the pressure on my machine and my mask reviewed and the pressure possibly lowered from 14 to 12 as it once was, so I could use a nasal pillow mask 2) to get a different machine, which my insurance will pay for after five years. I have a ResMed Autoset Spirit II S8. I would like one with a heated tube, which is the later model, or a different manufacturer (a subject for another thread).
I was referred to a specialist at a private hospital, the same person I would have seen on the NHS at a later date. It turned out that he was only interested in surgery, which wasn't what I wanted. He said he might do surgery if I got my BMI down. He recommended a device which he said I couldn't have because my teeth are wrong for it. He said that if I want the machine reviewed and the pressure adjusted I have to go straight to ResMed in London and they will read the card. (I've got some old software but I need help if I want to change the pressure down).
I can see that going to ResMed would solve a lot of my problems quickly. But I don't understand that we live in a free market economy and ResMed is taking over here (and in Germany too).
The system in Germany was that I was supposed to go to an ENT specialist once a year and that person would read my machine, and if I might need a pressure change I was given a device to use for a night at home, with a clip to go on my finger too, and then maybe sent to the sleep laboratory for a night.
The only other person with sleep apnoea I have met here goes once a year to a local hospital where a nurse reads his card and reviews the situation.
Does anyone think I might have an alternative than going to ResMed? What do other people do for checkups?