With private medical insurance becoming an expensive luxury, NHS waiting lists getting longer and longer and access to the NHS increasingly difficult, more and more people are opting to pay for their own treatment on a one off basis. This can often be the most cost affective way of getting back to work, getting back to your sports or simply getting back a pain-free nights sleep. As a self-pay patient you get all the benefits of being able to choose the specialist you want to see and of having a treatment in a private hospital.
You can just pay for an initial consultation with me which costs £200 (which is a very competitive price) and that should allow me to advise you whether you need further investigations, treatments or surgery and we can then discuss whether you continue to fund that yourself or prefer to wait for NHS treatment. Follow-up consultations to discuss scan results, progress, operation details etc can often last longer than the initial meeting and are charged at £100.
As a rough guide to the cost of the commonest investigations and treatments in my practice: x-rays cost between £90 and £150 depending on how many are needed and an MRI scan will cost from £300; a steroid injection given by me will cost between £120 and £150 – £50 is my fee and the rest is charged by the hospital or clinic to cover their costs (ridiculous I agree!)- and the most frequent operation I do costs between £3500 and £4400.
Most private hospitals will insist on a debit/credit card swipe when you arrive. This is for security in case any hospital fees are incurred but not settled. My fees ARE NOT taken from that card.
If you choose to pay for your own surgery then we will provide what is called a ‘fixed cost package’. This includes all the costs of your hospital stay plus the anaesthetist’s fee and my fee. These packages are provided by the private hospitals and are not calculated by me. I would certainly advise you to read the small print and the terms and conditions so that you are clear exactly what you are paying for and, perhaps more importantly, what is not covered. It may also be worthwhile travelling to one of the other hospitals I work out as there can be significant differences in the package prices for the same procedure at different hospitals but you should balance that against any inconvenience from travelling.
NEW MINOR OPERATIONS UNIT
I am delighted to announce a new partnership with The Riverside Clinic in Brentford http://Www.riverside-clinic.org.uk where I am now able to offer high quality surgery at very competitive prices. So, whereas a big private hospital will charge about £1800 for a Carpal Tunnel operation, a Trigger Finger release or excision of a lipoma or cyst, I can offer the same level of care for just £700. Its still me doing the surgery and I’m still doing the same operation but we are charging less than HALF what the private chains do. So for the sake of a drive up the A4 you could save nearly a grand!
The self-pay market is an increasing portion of healthcare delivery in the UK and we would be happy to help you if you choose to fund your own treatment. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with my office to find out more
