Too shy to ask for a second opinion? Don’t be — it could change your life

Carol rutherford, a 60-year- old grandmother from flitwick in Bedfordshire, had been to her GP four times in less than a year with constant fatigue, memory lapses and blurred vision.

the GP blamed the memory lapses on ageing, while an optician said the vision problems were a form of migraine.

a nurse friend said she was worried Carol’s symptoms might be due to a brain tumour, so Carol brought this up with her GP.

‘he still insisted there was no need to send me for a scan,’ she says.

a few weeks later Carol collapsed and was rushed, unconscious, to hospital.

the results of an MrI scan of her brain left the whole family reeling. ‘I had a massive tumour squashing my whole brain and pressing on the optic nerve,’ says Carol.

doctors told her husband, children and 82-year- old mother to say their goodbyes, as she would probably only live a few more hours. as the family prepared for Carol’s imminent death, another doctor came on duty in a&e.

She queried if anyone had thought to refer Carol for a second opinion at addenbrooke’s hospital, 40 miles away in Cambridge — which has a worldrenowned neuro- oncology unit used to handling complex brain tumour cases. It proved to be Carol’s salvation.

Within hours she was undergoing a seven-hour operation where the tumour was removed. tests showed it was benign, which meant Carol needed no further treatment. ‘I will be forever grateful to the doctor who called for a second opinion,’ says Carol.

Most of us wouldn’t hesitate to complain if we bought a TV that was faulty, but when it comes to our health, we can be remarkably meek. Surveys show there’s more chance of people in Britain asking for a second opinion on personal finance than their health.

Yet getting a second opinion can dramatically change outcomes for some people.

a study by the Mayo Clinic in the u.S., published in the Journal of evaluation of Clinical Practice last year, found up to 88 per cent of patients who seek a second opinion get a more accurate diagnosis. Meanwhile, after seeking a second opinion, almost 60 per cent of patients referred for spinal surgery were given a different diagnosis, or recommended a different treatment, with many avoiding complex and unnecessary surgery as a result, according to a study in the journal BMC Musculoskeletal disorders published in 2016.

although patients in Britain have no legal or constitutional right to a second opinion on the NHS, they are entitled to request one if they have doubts about their diagnosis or treatment. Yet a survey of 2,000 people, albeit by

Diagose.me, a firm that offers second opinions, showed one in five chooses not to in case it angers or offends their existing doctor.

But getting a second opinion is becoming easier thanks to the growth of internet-based services that offer expertise from specialists all over the world.

Some work by arranging for patients’ medical records and X-rays or scans to be downloaded onto a secure website, before the patient then selects which expert (out of hundreds) they want to ‘see’ online and review their case.

one website, Trustedoctor, is working with some of the world’s top neurosurgeons ( including eight in the UK) to make it easier for brain cancer patients to access their expertise. the company says average costs are around £230 for a 60-minute online consultation.

Diagnose.me has a network of doctors (including cardiologists, radiologists and urologists) worldwide who will review a patient’s case based on their medical history, test results and scans, and compile a report on whether they believe the diagnosis and suggested treatment was right.

the cost ranges from £80 to £200 for a single specialist’s verdict, and up to £1,200 for the opinion of a whole team of experts.

HELEN BULBECK set up a charity called Brainstrust, after her daughter Meg was diagnosed in 2003 with incurable brain cancer, aged just 19.

NhS doctors refused to operate because the chances of survival were so slim, so helen scoured the web until she got a second opinion from renowned u.S. neurosurgeon Professor Peter Black. he operated on Meg and successfully removed the entire tumour.

‘I’m constantly surprised by the number of people who say they don’t want to upset their doctor by asking for a second opinion,’ says helen.

‘I say to them “what’s more important — your doctor’s ego or your health?” But, she adds: ‘there is a danger that services like these could pander to some patients’ anxieties — I know patients who have gone for six or even seven opinions because they keep going until they hear what they want to hear, which is someone saying they can cure them, when really it’s not possible.’