Due to long waiting times for investigations, specialist appointments and operations within the NHS, some people are deciding to attend private hospitals and clinics, locally and abroad.
If you are thinking about using a private health provider, either by self-funding or private health insurance, we strongly advise you to consult one of our doctors beforehand to discuss things such as your expectation of treatment and follow up. Your GP will not usually be in a position to recommend a specific specialist and you are advised to do some research when deciding whether a healthcare provider is safe and suitable.
Please be aware that Tor Medical Group is contracted to provide health services, in line with our General Medical Services contract, on behalf of NHS Forth Valley and is not under any obligation to follow any requests from private health providers.
What happens when you are referred by your GP to see a Consultant/Specialist/Clinician Privately?
This leaflet describes what you can expect to happen if you ask your GP to refer you to see a Specialist privately. This might be a Consultant Doctor, Surgeon, Private GP, specialist nurse, or allied health professional. This leaflet uses the terms clinician and specialist interchangeably to denote a person or team you are seeing privately.
What happens next?
You should contact the Clinician’s team directly to organise an appointment. Contact them directly if you have any future appointment issues. If you have private health insurance, your insurer may have a list of approved specialists. You should check with your insurer before you proceed.
The specialist may request information from your GP; please arrange a routine GP appointment to discuss a referral letter. This will include relevant medical details about you. If an insurance company or specialist wishes a specific form to be completed, then your GP will charge you for providing this additional work.
What happens if you need a test or procedure?
If the Specialist thinks that you need any tests (including blood tests), or a surgical procedure, they are responsible for:
• arranging the test and any medications (such as sedation) that might be needed for this. They should also explain how and when you will receive a date of any procedure and what to do if the date is not suitable for you.
• giving you the results and explaining what they mean (this may be done in a separate appointment with them or by letter). You should not contact your GP surgery to discuss the results of tests organised by others, it is the specialist’s responsibility to discuss this with you.
The cost of these tests should be paid for within the private sector, which may increase the costs you incur. You may also need to travel to where you saw the specialist.
GP practices should not be asked to perform blood tests or other private investigations using NHS resources. A private GP or specialist can refer to NHS secondary care services but should not expect your GP practice to do this for them. If a private specialist informs you to arrange or to expect to hear from your NHS GP to arrange such tests, then this is incorrect. You should, at the time, remind the specialist that all tests need to be carried out privately. Avoiding inappropriate requests for your NHS GP to carry out tests will:
• Avoid delay in having your tests
• Ensure that the right person (your specialist) gets the results directly
• Avoid delays in your Specialist reviewing your results and planning any required follow up
What happens if you need new medicines?
The Consultant might suggest prescribing new medicines for you or might want to make changes to the medicines that you are already taking.
The Consultant is responsible for giving you the first prescription for any new medicine that you need to start taking straightaway.
If the consultant recommends a new medication be started, they should write to the GP outlining the reasons for treatment. In some circumstances, the GP may be willing to continue prescribing the medication. It usually takes two weeks for these letters to be received and actioned by practices.
Private Clinicians may suggest medications to patients which would not normally be prescribed by NHS GPs. This particularly relates to medications which are not included in NHS Forth Valley Formulary, medications that require regular monitoring (for example disease modifying anti-rheumatoid drugs, some psychiatric medications, medications for ADHD), medications for sedation before procedures, medications used outside of their license and medications restricted for specialist or hospital use only.
If either the specialist, or your GP, informs you that this is the case for your medication then you will need to continue to receive it from the private service. Please contact the private service directly to organise this.
