What to expect at a first private appointment

If you have only ever used the NHS, a first private appointment is mostly familiar with a few practical differences. This is general information about how appointments usually work, not medical advice.

Before you go

Bring photo ID if it is your first visit: most practices ask.

Write down what you want from the appointment, in one or two lines. This sounds obvious and it is the single thing that most improves a paid appointment: you have a fixed, known length of time, and it is easy to spend it on background.

Bring a list of your current medication, including doses. A photo of the boxes is fine. Also worth noting: allergies, and any relevant recent test results if you have them.

You do not need a referral to see a private GP, dentist, physiotherapist, osteopath, chiropractor or podiatrist in the UK. Some specialists do want one, and insurers often require one even when the clinician does not.

Length

You will usually get longer than an NHS appointment: 15 to 30 minutes for a private GP against the NHS's typical 10. That time is most of what you are paying for, so it is reasonable to expect the appointment to start roughly on schedule and to run its full length.

Prescriptions

A private clinician can issue a private prescription. That is a document; you take it to any pharmacy and pay the pharmacy's price for the medicine, which is not the NHS fixed charge and can be higher or lower depending on the drug.

Some practices charge a fee for issuing the prescription itself. Worth asking.

A private prescription cannot be dispensed at the NHS charge, and a private GP cannot convert one into an NHS prescription: only your registered NHS GP can decide to prescribe on the NHS.

Referrals and tests

A private clinician can refer you to a private specialist, usually quickly. They can also write to your NHS GP recommending something, but they cannot place you into an NHS waiting list directly or move you up one. If NHS treatment is the goal, your own GP remains the route.

Tests are usually arranged separately and charged separately. Ask what a test will cost before agreeing to it: this is the most common source of an unexpected bill.

Your NHS record

A private appointment does not automatically appear in your NHS record. The clinician will usually offer to write to your NHS GP, and it is normally sensible to say yes so your record is complete, particularly if you have been prescribed something or told something significant.

It is your choice, and worth making deliberately rather than by default.

Afterwards

• Ask what happens next before you leave: whether you need a follow-up, when, and what should prompt you to come back sooner.
• Ask for anything important in writing. A summary letter is normal to request.
• Keep the receipt if you intend to claim on insurance.

If something goes wrong

Private clinicians are regulated by the same bodies as NHS ones: the GMC for doctors, the GDC for dentists, the HCPC for physiotherapists and others. Complaints go first to the practice, which must have a complaints procedure, and then to the regulator or to the Independent Sector Complaints Adjudication Service where the practice subscribes to it.

Quokka is not a clinical service and cannot advise on treatment or handle a clinical complaint. If the problem is with the listing (a wrong price, a wrong time), that one is ours, and we want to know.