111 is free, always open, and can send an ambulance. There are things it does better than we do.
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We say plainly where the other option is stronger
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Clinically reviewed by a GMC-registered GP
Care led personally by Dr Khan
Attentive, unhurried care that listens properly
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NHS 111 and a booked private consultation are not really competitors — they answer different questions.
111 answers "how urgently do I need to be seen, and where?" It is a triage service, free, running 24 hours, with direct access to ambulances, out-of-hours GPs, urgent treatment centres and emergency dental services.
We answer "what is actually going on, and what should be done about it?" — with twenty unhurried minutes and a named doctor.
Using the wrong one wastes either your money or your time.
111 is designed to sort urgency, not to work out what is wrong. Its algorithm is deliberately risk-averse, which is correct for a service handling millions of calls but frustrating if you have had a symptom for three months and want it explained.
Twenty minutes with a doctor who has read your history and can consider several possibilities is a different exercise entirely.
Long-standing symptoms, medication reviews, results you do not understand, second opinions, and problems you have been putting off — 111 is the wrong tool for all of these, and will usually tell you to see your own GP.
Referral letters, reports, fitness certificates and written summaries. 111 produces none of these.
You will speak to whoever answers at 111. With us you can see the same doctor again, and they will remember.
3am on a bank holiday, 111 answers and we do not.
This is the important one. 111 sits inside the urgent care system. It can:
We can do none of that. We can tell you that you need urgent assessment; 111 can arrange it.
Chest pain, severe breathlessness, a rash that does not fade under pressure, suspected stroke, severe abdominal pain, a very unwell child, mental health crisis. We will not assess these by video — we will tell you to call 999 or 111.
If you have run out of essential medication and your GP is closed, 111 is the answer — and for controlled drugs it is the only answer, since we do not prescribe those remotely except as a rare one-off bridging supply.
Chest pain, difficulty breathing, signs of stroke, heavy bleeding, loss of consciousness, a rash that does not fade under pressure, or a seizure. Neither 111 nor we are the right first call.
Do you need to know how urgently to be seen, or do you need to know what is wrong?
The first is 111. The second is us.
There is no downside to calling. It costs nothing and it is designed for exactly that uncertainty. Paying us £40 to be told to call 111 is a poor outcome for you, and it happens.
The commonest frustration with 111 is being told to contact your own GP for something that then takes two weeks to arrange. That is the gap we exist to fill — not the urgent end, the "I have been told to see a GP and cannot" end.
If what you describe needs urgent, hands-on assessment, we will say so and direct you to 111 or 999 — and we will not charge for the appointment. Taking a fee to tell someone to go to hospital is not something we are willing to do.
For what it is designed to do, yes. It is a triage service that decides urgency and route. It is deliberately cautious, which means it sometimes over-escalates — a reasonable trade for a service that must not miss the serious cases.
Because your problem was not urgent, which is genuinely reassuring. It also leaves you needing an appointment, which is where a private consultation can help.
No. For urgent supply of regular medication out of hours, 111 is the route. And we do not prescribe opioids or stimulants remotely at any time, nor benzodiazepines or z-drugs for ongoing use.
No. We can, included in the £40.
Online for straightforward questions; phone if you are worried, if it concerns a young child, or if symptoms are hard to describe in a form.
No. If the right answer is urgent NHS care, we will say so and not take the fee.
Clinically reviewed by Dr Mohammad Zubair Khan, GMC 7563469
Last reviewed
August 30, 2026
On this page
Ongoing
Same-day access is usually available, from 6am to 10pm, seven days a week. You choose a time that suits you rather than waiting on hold at 8am.
Yes. Care is led personally by Dr Mohammad Khan, so you are not passed between clinicians. Continuity is the point of a small practice: someone who knows your history and is listening attentively rather than working through a checklist.
Yes, with your consent. We can access your Summary Care Record during the consultation, so your current medications, allergies and significant history are in the room. That means fewer questions you have already answered elsewhere, and safer prescribing.
No. We are not here to replace GPs, only to support them. Your NHS practice remains responsible for your ongoing care, and with your consent we write to them after the consultation. We are useful when you need to be seen sooner, or want more time than a standard appointment allows.
Twenty unhurried minutes and a comprehensive assessment. A written treatment plan is included, along with any prescription, sick note or referral letter arising from the consultation, at no extra charge.
£40 for 20 minutes, self-pay. Membership is optional and never required. Priced for fairness, because we are not here to charge extortionate amounts for access to a doctor.
It means the diagnosis can usually be made from your history and photographs, and that treatment can be arranged safely without examining you. Where a condition is not marked treatable online, it is because examination is the diagnosis — listening to a chest, feeling an abdomen, examining an ear or a joint — or because a procedure or device is needed.
Yes, where there is a genuine bacterial infection — cellulitis, impetigo, bacterial urine infections, confirmed strep throat. We will also frequently tell you that you do not need one. Most sore throats, coughs, colds and earaches are viral, and an antibiotic gives you the side effects with none of the benefit.
If your problem turns out to be genuinely outside what we can do remotely, the doctor will tell you straight away, point you to the right service, and refund your fee in full. We would rather do that than fill twenty minutes to justify the charge.
Call 999 or go to A&E — do not book an online appointment and do not wait for a reply to an email. For urgent problems that are not emergencies, NHS 111 is available 24 hours a day, online or by phone, and can direct you to the right service.
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