Right, as most of you know I have had some severe back problems since December. I have been referred to the hospital for a MRI scan and (probably) surgery as it seems that I have a centrally prolapsed disk.
Problem I have is that I was referred 2 weeks ago and haven't even been graded by the consultant yet. Probably looking at a waiting list of between 5 and 13 weeks for the consultation, then a further wait for the MRI scan, then yet more waiting for any surgery that is decided necessary

I am now at the point where I am in constant pain, 24 hours/day and cannot sleep. There are also other symptoms related to the pressure on my spinal column which make life pretty miserable TBH, coupled with the fact I can't remember the last time I managed to sleep for longer than about 3 hours without having to get up and have a walk around the house, it's normally about 2 hours and when really bad I can be up every hour or so

The dilemma I have is that I could go private as we have a good Private Hospital nearby. I have found out that I should be eligible to get funding for the surgery (if required) from a charity I have spoken with but have to pay for the Consultation and scan myself. Spoke to them today and it will be about £235 for the initial consultation and £450 for the scan.
Now that's the best part of £700 I don't really have to spend at the moment but if I wait for the NHS I'll either end up on SSP or possibly even out of a job. If the former, it really wouldn't take long before I've lost more than the £700 I'd be paying out now :-/ :-/
Thought long and hard about this and think I know what would be best but keep coming back to the fact that I could be graded urgent by the NHS consultant (not actually the same chap but same department

) and get an urgent appointment :-/
What would you do?