Private GP membership or paying per visit, how to decide

How to decide

Start with an honest count of last year. Add up the appointments, calls and home visits you had, or would have had if a doctor had been easy to reach, and price them at the clinic’s per visit fees. Then set that total beside the membership fee and ask what else the membership gives you.

Both are good ways to see a doctor. Membership is for people who want a doctor who knows them, priority access and continuity all year, with someone who arranges the rest. Paying per visit suits an occasional need.

How often people see a GP

A study of more than 100 million consultations in English general practice found an average of 5.16 consultations per person a year in 2013 to 2014, with the highest rates among infants and people aged 85 and over [1]. Your own number may be far from the average, so use your own year where you can.

What each option gives you

Paying per visit buys exactly the appointment you need. A telephone consultation is £59, a 30 minute appointment £150, a same day appointment £220 and a doctor at your home or hotel £450 [2] [3]. There is nothing to join and nothing to renew.

Signature membership, at £6,950 a year or £610 a month for twelve months, includes same day GP appointments in London, a doctor by phone or video wherever you are, a doctor on call overnight, a yearly blood test, the flu vaccine, two house calls and three guest passes [4]. Platinum, at £17,450 a year, adds a named physician and a personal concierge, the executive physical and your screening every year, a longevity plan reviewed every quarter, six house calls and ten guest passes [4].

Under fair use, Signature includes up to 12 same day appointments in clinic and 36 by phone or video a year, and Platinum 24 and 72 [4].

A worked example

Here is the same year priced both ways, using our current fees. The visit counts are illustrations, so replace them with your own.

• A busy year, with eight same day appointments, twelve telephone consultations, two home visits and the Advanced Health blood panel, costs £4,018 paid per visit.
• A year that uses Signature to its fair use limits, with twelve same day appointments, thirty six calls valued at the telephone fee, two home visits, the yearly panel and three guest passes, costs £6,974 paid per visit, a little more than Signature at £6,950.

When paying per visit suits you

Paying per visit suits you if you are well, see a doctor a few times a year and are happy to see whichever doctor is free. It also suits you if you already have a GP you like and want a private appointment only now and then, for speed or for a second view.

When membership suits you

Membership suits you if you value the same doctor over years and want that doctor on the phone from any country. It also suits you if you would rather someone else arranged your tests and specialists. Seeing a doctor who knows you has value of its own. A systematic review found that most high quality studies linked greater continuity of care with doctors to lower mortality, although the evidence is observational [5].

It also suits a family, since guest passes give a family member or friend a same day appointment on your membership [4].

Questions to ask before you join any membership

Ask these of any private GP membership, and expect each answer in writing.

• What exactly is included, and what are the fair use limits?
• What is not included, such as specialists, scans, hospital care and medicines?
• Will I have a named doctor?
• Does it renew on its own, and how do I cancel?
• What happens to my records when I leave?
• Is there a discount on care beyond the membership?

How The Wellness can help

Each membership runs for twelve months and does not renew unless you ask, and we write to you before it ends [4]. Hospital treatment, specialist fees, medicines, visits to doctors abroad, and scans or tests beyond those listed are not included, and we give you the price before anything is arranged [4]. If you join online, UK consumer law usually ends the cancellation period for a service contract 14 days after the contract is made [6].

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 every doctor is GMC registered. If you are unsure, request one GP appointment first and decide afterwards.