Can my GP refer me to a private hospital consultant?

Can my GP refer me to a private hospital consultant?

Yes. With waiting lists lengthening, more patients are being referred by their GP to a private consultant.

Key Points

• Assume nothing
• Your private consultant should organise all tests, procedures and operations – and new medication
• Keep a good medical record – and take copies of letters to appointments in the other sector
• They can refer you back to the NHS
• You should act as a go between regarding communication.

What happens when you are referred by your GP to see a private consultant?

You should arrange the appointment. Contact the consultant directly (Google him/her to find out the details of their private secretary) to organise this appointment.

If you have a private health insurance, your insurer may have a list of approved specialists. You may want to check with your insurer before you proceed.

Ask your GP to ask them to write a referral letter and send it to the consultant that you have specified.

Remember. The private consultant will have limited (or no) access to your medical record and current medication.

Hence this referral should include all relevant medical information about you. If an insurance company wishes for a specific form to be completed, then your GP will have to charge for providing this additional work.

Seeing the consultant

If the consultant thinks that you need any tests (including blood tests), or procedures or operations, the consultant is responsible for:

• Arranging the test and any medication that might be needed for this. They should also explain how and when you will receive a date for any procedure or operation  – 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 the consultant, by letter or telephone.

Notes

• You should not visit your GP surgery to discuss the results of tests organised by others, it is the Consultants responsibility to discuss this with you
• Please note that any tests required should be carried out privately. This may mean you need to travel to where you saw your consultant.
• The cost of these tests should be paid for with the private sector, which may increase the costs that you incur.

GP Practices cannot perform blood tests (or other private investigations) using NHS resources. Doing so would inappropriately use NHS resources to carry out private activity. If a private consultant asks you to arrange such tests through your GP (or hear from them), then this is incorrect.

You should, at the time, remind the consultant that all tests need to be carried out privately.

What happens if you need new medication?

The consultant may suggest a new medication for you (or might want to make changes to current medicines).

If so, the consultant is responsible for giving you the first prescription for any new medicine that you need to start taking straight away. Your GP Practice will only be able to continue prescribing this medication if the consultant requests this in a written clinic letter.

If the consultant recommends a new medication to be started, which is not required immediately, the consultant should write a letter to the GP requesting that this is to be started. It usually takes two weeks for these letters to be received and actioned by practices.

Private consultant may suggest medication to be patients which would not normally be prescribed by the NHS. If either the consultant, or your GP, informs you that this is the case for your medication then you will need to continue to receive them from the consultant. Please contact them directly to arrange this.

What happens if I need to transfer my care back to the NHS?

If after seeing the consultant privately you want to be back under NHS care, you are allowed to be transferred back.

This transfer must be done by the private consultant who is overseeing your care; and should not be passed back to the GP for this to be done. There are a few reasons why;

• It delays your ongoing care
• Your consultant knows the full details of your condition and where best to refer you to
• It wastes precious NHS appointments with your GP and adds unnecessary administration to the process
• The consultant should arrange for you to be seen in the appropriate NHS clinic by writing a referral letter to this clinic.

Your role as a ‘communication go between’

Assume nothing. Regarding healthcare – especially where private and NHS have contact – assume no one communicates properly. No one has full access to all relevant information.

Therefore, it is your responsibility to make sure all components of NHS care (GP, hospital, pharmacy) receive all information about your private care – and vice versa.

How do you do that? Keep a careful medical record, write everything down, keep contact details, and bring paper copies of letters and medication etc to appointments in the other sector.