How to choose a private GP in London, and what it costs

What matters most when you choose

A good private GP is a registered doctor working in a registered service, whom you can reach when you need them and who comes to know you over time. You can check the first two yourself in a few minutes, and the rest by asking the clinic plain questions before you pay.

Price matters too, and it is easiest to judge when every fee is shown before you choose. A clear clinic tells you what the appointment includes and what would cost extra.

Checking the doctor and the service

Every doctor practising in the UK must be registered with the General Medical Council (GMC). Its online register can be searched by name or GMC reference number, and filtered to doctors on the GP register [1]. The GMC checks that a doctor meets its requirements before registering them, and doctors must keep their knowledge and skills up to date to stay in practice [1].

The service matters as well as the doctor. In England, a provider of a regulated activity must be registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC), and carrying on a regulated activity without registration is an offence [2]. The regulated activities include treatment of disease, disorder or injury, surgical procedures, diagnostic and screening procedures, and triage and medical advice given remotely [3]. Ask the clinic which registered provider delivers your care, and look it up on the CQC website.

Seeing the same doctor

Continuity, seeing a doctor who knows your history, is worth asking about directly. A systematic review in BMJ Open found 22 studies relating continuity of care with doctors to mortality, and 18 of them (81.8%) reported lower mortality with greater continuity [4]. The studies were observational, so they show an association rather than proof of cause, and they came from 9 countries with different health systems [4].

In practice, continuity means a doctor who remembers what you tried last time and notices when something changes. Ask whether you will have a named doctor, and whether every doctor who sees you reads the same record.

How quickly and where you are seen

Ask how soon you would be seen today and at the weekend, and whether the doctor can see you by telephone or video when you cannot come in. If you travel or have young children, ask whether a doctor can come to your home or hotel, and what that costs.

Ask too who answers when the clinic is closed. A private GP is not an emergency service, and for chest pain, difficulty breathing, severe bleeding or a head injury in the UK you call 999 [5].

Prescriptions, referrals and records

A private GP can prescribe and refer you to a specialist [6]. Ask how a prescription reaches you, and how a referral works. Before an outpatient consultation, a private consultant must tell you the estimated cost, under an Order made by the Competition and Markets Authority [7], and the Private Healthcare Information Network publishes consultants’ fees for self-pay patients [8].

Your records should be easy to see and easy to share. Ask whether you can read your results and letters yourself, whether the clinic sends them to any other doctor you see with your consent, and whether you can download everything if you leave.

A checklist for choosing a private GP

Take these questions to any clinic you are considering. A good one answers every one of them before you pay.

• Is the doctor on the GMC register, and on the GP register?
• Which CQC registered provider delivers the care?
• Will I see a named doctor, and will every doctor read the same record?
• How soon can I be seen today, and at weekends?
• Can a doctor come to my home or hotel, and at what fee?
• Can the doctor prescribe, and how does a referral work?
• Can I read and download my own records?
• What does each fee include, and what would cost extra?

What a private GP costs in London

Fees depend on the length of the appointment and where you are seen. At The Wellness a telephone consultation of 15 minutes is £59, a 30 minute appointment from the next day £150, a same day appointment £220 and a home or hotel visit of up to an hour £450 [6] [5].

If you see a doctor several times a year, compare paying per visit with a yearly membership, which gathers same day appointments, calls and house visits into one fee.

How The Wellness can help

Our clinics are on Baker Street in Marylebone and Eccleston Street in Belgravia, open from seven in the morning to nine at night every day, and a doctor can come to your home or hotel anywhere in London. Every doctor is GMC registered, regulated services are delivered through registered partner clinics and accredited laboratories, and results are explained by a doctor.