Planning private medical care in London from abroad

What to know before you plan

Private care in London is open to visitors. You do not need to be registered with a doctor here or to have a UK address, and a hotel counts as the address you are staying at. What you do need is the right permission to enter the UK for the reason you are travelling, and a plan for the parts of your care that happen after you fly home.

Most of the work is done before you leave. Settle the entry paperwork and agree the shape of the visit with the doctor, and the days in London are spent on your health rather than on arrangements.

Entering the UK for a consultation or treatment

Visitors usually come in as a Standard Visitor, which normally allows a stay of up to 6 months [1]. Depending on your nationality, you may need a Standard Visitor visa or an Electronic Travel Authorisation before you travel, and some visitors need neither [1].

A visit for private medical treatment has its own requirements. You must be able to show that you have a condition that needs private consultation or treatment in the UK, that the arrangements are made, that you can pay, and that you will leave when treatment is finished [2]. You will need a letter from a doctor or consultant confirming the condition that needs treatment, the estimated cost, how long treatment is likely to last and where it will happen [2].

The ETA costs £20, a decision usually arrives by email within a day but can take up to 3 working days, and it lasts for 2 years or until your passport expires [3] [4]. The government lists tourism and business trips among the reasons an ETA covers and asks anyone coming for another reason to check whether they need a visa, so check the GOV.UK pages for your nationality and your purpose before you book a flight [3].

What to bring with you

Bring everything a new doctor needs to understand your health without calling home. Copies in English save time on the day, and the medical tourism chapter of the CDC Yellow Book advises asking for records in English for the same reason [5].

Medicines need a little more care. If you are not a UK resident, carry a letter showing that your medicine was prescribed for you, with your name, your travel dates, each medicine with its amount, dose and strength, and the prescriber’s signature [6]. You can bring up to 3 months supply, and a medicine containing a controlled drug must travel in your hand luggage [6].

• A summary from your own doctor, with your diagnoses and past operations
• Recent blood results, scan reports and any imaging on a disc or a download link
• A list of every medicine you take, with doses, and any allergies
• The prescriber’s letter for your medicines, and the boxes they came in
• Your passport, and your visa or ETA confirmation
• The name and email of the doctor at home who will receive the results

What it costs and how you pay

Care in London is paid privately. Visitors cannot claim public funds [1], so plan to pay for your care yourself. A GP appointment is £150, and every fee is confirmed before an appointment is arranged or a doctor is sent.

If you have travel or international health insurance, you pay us and receive a receipt with a doctor’s letter written for your insurer, which many policies reimburse. Ask your insurer before you travel what it needs from the clinic, and keep every receipt together.

How to time the visit

Leave more time than the appointments need. Blood drawn before midday is usually read the same day, and a specialist appointment the doctor asks for is usually arranged within the week, so a stay of several days lets the results and any next step fit before you fly.

If you are having a procedure, ask how long to wait before flying. The CDC advises waiting 10 days to fly after chest or abdominal surgery, and notes that sitting for long periods after an operation adds to the risk of blood clots [5]. Your own surgeon will set the right interval for you.

Follow-up once you are home

Agree the follow-up before you leave London. The CDC advises travellers to discuss with both the overseas doctor and their own doctor how any complication would be handled, and to take a complete copy of their records home [5].

At The Wellness every result and letter goes into one record you can open from any country, and the doctor writes a letter your own doctor at home can read, often before you have landed. A follow-up by video means a question raised in London can be answered from your own home.

Care in other cities as well as London

The Wellness is in 13 cities. Beyond London, appointments are arranged with partners in 12 city pages, including Dubai, New York, Paris and Singapore, so care that begins in London can continue nearer home or on your next trip. Each city page sets out what can be arranged there.

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 hotel or home in London. Every doctor is GMC registered, and regulated services are delivered through registered partner clinics and accredited laboratories. We consult in English and in Arabic, and bring an interpreter for other languages.

This is not an emergency service. For chest pain, difficulty breathing, severe bleeding or a head injury in the UK, call 999.