Hi Jojo,
I've just had a BFN at St Mary's. Whilst we were on the waiting list, we did attempt a cycle at the beginning of the year at MFS, Manchester - but unfortunately it was abandoned as I didn't respond. Thankfully I did respond at this last one (short protocol).
Anyway, I didn't really see much difference between MFS (private) and St Marys in terms of visiting to get drugs and having bloods/scans - and the staff seemed friendly enough. Obviously we went further with St Marys and I did feel as though you don't get as much attention (which is what I expected I guess, as opposed to private). MFS would have aspirated my endo cyst for example, during EC, but I awoke from EC with St Marys to find that they hadn't aspirated it. They obviously had good reason but nobody bothered to tell me! Also, I went for a follow-up consultation after this BFN, and was told 'as an after thought' that they were going to try me on the long protocol next time. This is obviously huge news to me. We will cycle again with St Marys in September and see what happens, as we have one more go.
When we got to the top of the list, I was worried that we wouldn't be able to start straightaway still but we did. Also when I rang on day 1 of AF, I know that sometimes they have too many patients so you have to try again the following month - but I was ok to start immediately. Whether that happens next time..
Good luck in your decision - it's never easy knowing which is the best route, particularly for something so important!
BH x
but i have had a look back at some old posts and it seems there are a few girls who are at or have been at st mary's. try using the search facility at the top of the page and type in "st mary's manchester" and lots of old posts come up, you might find it very interesting reading and it could help with your decision 
