Insurers

I offer a comprehensive service to all my patients using the diagnostic and surgical facilities of some of London's leading private hospitals.

The following information should help you answer some of the questions about private patient services.

Do I need a referral letter from my GP?

Although a referral letter is not always required or possible (perhaps if you are a temporary overseas visitor), if you have a gynaecological medical problem your insurance company will usually request that you have a referral from your family doctor prior to agreeing to fund any consultations or treatment.

Having a referral letter from your GP before arranging an appointment makes a great deal of sense as the letter may well contain important details of your medical history and the results of investigations already carried out.

Self-pay patients

Many patients without health insurance now opt to pay for their own medical treatment privately.

For the majority of procedures, assuming no medical complications, the hospital will provide an accurate estimate prior to commencing any treatment. Most of the private hospitals and clinics I am part of have a self-pay package for the commonest surgical procedures, which will cover surgical, hospital and anaesthetic fees. Most private hospitals require payment in full or a deposit at or before the time of treatment for self-funding patients.

Medical Insurance

You can ask your GP to write a referral letter either to me at the address under the contacts section. Once you have a referral you should contact your insurance company to obtain a 'pre-authorisation' code for your consultation. If after your consultation you require any diagnostic tests e.g. scans or surgery are advised, you should again seek authorisation from your insurance company prior to attending your appointment.

If you can, it is useful to provide us with the authorisation codes in advance so that we invoice the insurance company directly.

I am recognised as a provider by all the major medical insurance companies (BUPA, BUPA International, AXA PPP, Norwich Union (Aviva), WPA, Standard Life, Pruhealth Cigna, Saga, Medisure etc).

Many insurance policies now have an excess payment or cost-sharing scheme, which require you to pay part of the fees due. You should clarify this with your insurance company prior to commencing treatment.

Payment for consultations that are not covered by medical insurance, and for non-surgical treatments must be paid either at the time of booking or on the day of treatment.

Surgery Fee Guides

The cost for any surgery is made up of a number of different fees:

The surgical fee - this is the fee to the surgeon for your surgery and for any postoperative follow up appointments. It also covers any dressings or removal of sutures that may be required.

The anaesthetic fee - this covers the cost of your consultation with your anaesthetist on the day of surgery and for your anaesthetic.

The hospital fee - this covers the cost of the hospital for your procedure including any scheduled overnight stays. If you need or wish to stay longer than scheduled you will be charged extra, for most hospitals this is approximately £400 night.

Some hospitals will charge separately for any medications that are taken home.

Each hospital has its own fee scale for different procedures. Because of this, the same procedure done by the same surgeon may vary depending upon which hospital you choose to have your surgery. The type of anaesthetic used may also vary in relation to your general health and anticipated length of stay following surgery.

You should bear in mind that the cost for multiple procedures together works out to be less costly as you only need one hospital stay and one anaesthetic.

Following your initial consultation a detailed account proposal will be given to you, which should reflect the actual cost of your surgery. I will advise on the most cost effective treatment plan without compromising the quality of care.

Patient Privacy

Should you become a patient, full information on the control and security of your medical and personal data will be made available.

The information we hold on you

Our practice keeps data on you relating to who you are, where you live, contact details, what you do, your family, possibly your friends, your employers, your habits, your problems and diagnoses, the reasons you seek help, your appointments, if you have a carer, where you are seen and when you are seen, who by, referrals to specialists and other healthcare providers, tests carried out here and in other places, investigations and scans, treatments and outcomes of treatments, your treatment history, the observations and opinions of other healthcare workers, within and without the NHS as well as comments and aide memoires reasonably made by healthcare professionals in this practice who are appropriately involved in your health care.

When registering for NHS care, all patients who receive NHS care are registered on a national database, the database is held by NHS Digital, a national organisation which has legal responsibilities to collect NHS data.

Your medical records or test results might be searched by a computer programmes so that we can identify patients who might be at high risk from certain diseases

If you would like more information, please speak with the Consultant or practice manager/secretary/

Who we share information with

As Doctors, we cannot handle all your information ourselves, so we need to share information with administrators and healthcare within the practice and sometimes with other organisations.

If your care requires treatment outside the practice, we will exchange with those providing such care and treatment whatever information may be necessary to provide safe, high quality care.

Once you have seen the care provider, they will normally send us details of the care they have provided you with, so that we can understand your health better.

Your consent to this sharing of data, within the practice and with those others outside the practice is assumed and is allowed by the Law, however we will gladly discuss this with you in more detail if you would like to know more.

The Practice team (clinicians, administration and reception staff) only access the information they need to allow them to perform their function and fulfil their roles.

You have the right to object to our sharing your data in these circumstances but we have an overriding responsibility to do what is in your best interests.