A second opinion is an independent review of your diagnosis and treatment plan by another consultant. Mr Nargund offers second opinions across urology, including prostate, bladder, kidney and testicular cancer, surgery decisions and unexplained symptoms.
If you have been given a diagnosis or a treatment plan and something does not sit right, you are entitled to ask another consultant to look at it. A second opinion is not a criticism of your first doctor. It is a normal part of good medical care, and consultants ask each other for them all the time. Mr Vinod Nargund has provided second opinions across the whole of urology for decades, and he will tell you honestly whether he agrees with what you have been told.
When should you get a second opinion?
You should get a second opinion whenever a decision about your body feels bigger than the information you have been given. That covers more situations than most men realise. The right moments include:
- You have been told you have cancer. Prostate, bladder, kidney or testicular cancer decisions are rarely urgent to the day, and the treatment you choose is usually permanent. Another experienced pair of eyes on the scans and biopsy results is worth the short delay.
- Surgery has been recommended and you are not sure it is the only option, or you do not fully understand why.
- You have been told nothing is wrong but the symptoms have not gone away.
- Treatment is not working, or you have been on the same medication for months without a review.
- You were not given options, or the options were explained in language you could not follow.
- You simply have a feeling that you were rushed, not listened to, or advised wrongly. That instinct is worth acting on.
A second opinion most often confirms the original advice, and that is a good outcome: you go into treatment confident rather than doubtful. When it does differ, you will hear exactly why, and you will have what you need to decide.
What does Mr Nargund need to see?
Bring, or ask your current clinic to send, everything that exists: clinic letters, blood results, scan reports and ideally the images themselves, biopsy results and the proposed treatment plan. You have a legal right to copies of your own records in the UK. If some of it is missing, the consultation still goes ahead and Mr Nargund will say what else is needed.
What happens at the appointment?
Mr Nargund will read your notes before you arrive, then go through the history with you, examine you where relevant and explain what he sees in the results. You will get a plain-language view of the diagnosis, whether he agrees with the plan, and what the alternatives are, including doing nothing for now where that is reasonable. If you want him to take over your care he can; if you prefer to return to your original consultant with the new information, he will write to them.
Areas he gives second opinions on
- Prostate cancer: whether to treat, and which treatment, including active surveillance.
- Raised PSA, and whether a biopsy or MRI is needed.
- Bladder cancer and kidney cancer treatment decisions.
- Testicular lumps, pain and swelling.
- Male infertility and fertility surgery.
- Erectile dysfunction that has not responded to treatment.
- Recurrent infections and unexplained urinary symptoms.
Mr Nargund trained in urological oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, has published more than 90 peer-reviewed papers and is regularly instructed as an expert witness. Independent judgement is a large part of what he does.
Sources
General Medical Council guidance, Good medical practice, on respecting a patient’s right to seek a second opinion; NHS information on accessing your health records.
Reviewed by Mr Vinod Nargund, MBBS, PhD, FRCS(Urol), FEBU. Last updated 12 September 2026.