Perhaps surprisingly patients do not have an absolute right to a second opinion within the NHS. However, the Patient's Charter does say 'Every citizen has the following established National Health Service rights….(4) to be referred to a consultant acceptable to you, when your general practitioner thinks it necessary, and to be referred for a second opinion if you and your general practitioner agree this is desirable'. This means that the co-operation of your GP is necessary but as the General Medical Council's 1998 booklet for doctors, 'Good Medical Practice', says that 'to establish and maintain trust' doctors should 'respect the right of patients to a second opinion', this is very unlikely to ever be refused. People who have cancer who want a second opinion almost always want this after they have seen a specialist, rather than their GP, and so ask to see another specialist. The reasons for wanting a second opinion vary. Sometimes it is the wish to make sure that everything possible is being done to get the best treatment, sometimes it is to get confirmation of bad news that is otherwise difficult to accept and sometimes it is just to get clarification of what is going on.

All specialists are used to patients occasionally asking for second opinions. No specialist should, and very few do, mind when patient's, or their relatives, request this. Second opinions can be helpful to the specialist. If the doctor giving the second opinion gives the same advice as the first specialist (as is usually the case) then this will increase the patient's confidence and trust in that specialist. If the advice is different then it increases the first specialists options for the care of the patient and will allow a further discussion at which a mutually agreed plan of treatment can be prepared.

The usual way to go about getting a second opinion is to see your GP as they are the person who would normally arrange the second consultation. This would normally be with a consultant at a different hospital from the one where you were first seen, and so might involve travelling. Your GP would usually let the first specialist know you were having a second opinion, partly out of courtesy and partly to make sure all the relevant details of your tests and their results could be sent to the second specialist so they are fully informed when they see you. You may prefer to discuss getting a second opinion directly with the consultant. Many patients are concerned that the consultant will be insulted or upset but this is very unlikely to be the case.

Although there is no absolute right to a second opinion it would be very unusual for a GP to refuse such a request . If you did have difficulties with your GP you could always discuss it with your specialist who would usually be sympathetic.