Common, harmless and treatable at home. For most families this needs a pharmacist rather than a GP appointment.
Assessed and treated by a GMC-registered GP
Prescriptions, sick notes and referral letters included
A written treatment plan after every appointment
Your NHS records in the room, with your consent
Care led personally by Dr Khan
Attentive, unhurried care that listens properly
Five-star Google reviews from the people we have looked after
Registered with the Care Quality Commission
Let us start with the honest bit: most people do not need to pay a doctor for head lice. Treatment is available over the counter, your pharmacist can advise for free, and the great majority of cases are dealt with at home in a fortnight. We would rather say that than take a booking fee for it.
Head lice are small insects that live on the scalp and feed on blood. They spread by head-to-head contact, not by hats, brushes or bedding, and they are not a sign of poor hygiene — they are, if anything, slightly happier on clean hair. They do not carry disease.
Where a consultation earns its keep is when treatment keeps failing, when the scalp has become infected from scratching, or when what looks like lice turns out to be something else entirely.
Only treat if you see a living, moving louse. Eggs alone, particularly white empty shells further down the hair, mean a past infestation rather than a current one — and treating on nits alone is the commonest reason families end up applying product repeatedly for no reason.
This is the single most important point on the page, and it is the one most often got wrong. Nits — the empty eggshells glued to the hair — stay stuck for months after treatment has worked.
Finding nits does not mean an active infestation. It is the commonest reason children are treated repeatedly for something they no longer have.
This is more accurate than looking through dry hair, which misses most infestations.
Lice move away from light and are only about 3mm long, so they photograph poorly. A photograph usually shows nits rather than lice.
Detection combing at home is more reliable than any consultation, and it costs nothing.
When treatment has genuinely failed despite correct technique, when the scalp is infected, or when the diagnosis is in doubt — eczema, dandruff and hair casts are all mistaken for lice.
Tea tree oil, mayonnaise, vinegar, hot air treatments and repellent sprays have no reliable evidence behind them. Nor does washing bedding at high temperature — lice die within a day off the scalp.
Head lice are not dangerous and are almost never urgent. Seek prompt medical assessment if:
Also worth a routine consultation if scalp itching persists after lice have genuinely been cleared, since the cause is then something else and continuing to apply lice treatment will only irritate the skin further.
Wet combing is a complete treatment in its own right, and it is free.
Comb thoroughly with conditioner on days 1, 5, 9 and 13, then check on day 17. That schedule is not arbitrary — it catches lice hatching from eggs the first comb missed, before they are old enough to lay their own.
Skipping sessions is the commonest reason it fails.
Regular detection combing is the only measure with real value, because catching an infestation early keeps it small. Tied-back long hair may help slightly.
Head lice have nothing to do with cleanliness, and no amount of washing prevents them.
Head lice treatment is entirely over the counter and inexpensive, and there is no reason to pay a doctor for it. We would say so rather than take a fee.
The cheapest effective method needs no chemicals at all. Wet combing with conditioner and a fine-toothed detection comb, done thoroughly every three to four days for two weeks, works — and it works when insecticides have failed, because there is no resistance to a comb.
The advice that changes outcomes is free and routinely ignored: only treat people who actually have live lice, since treating a whole household prophylactically drives resistance; repeat any chemical treatment after seven days to catch newly hatched lice, which is the step most often skipped and the commonest reason treatment fails; and do not keep children off school — lice are not a public health risk and exclusion is not recommended.
Where money is wasted: electronic combs, tea tree and other repellent products, and treating bedding, furniture and soft toys, which is unnecessary — lice do not survive long off the scalp.
A consultation is worth it only if the scalp is genuinely infected, if treatment has failed repeatedly despite correct technique, or if there is real doubt about the diagnosis — an itchy scalp is far more often eczema or seborrhoeic dermatitis than lice.
NICE Clinical Knowledge Summary, Head lice, is the principal reference. It is explicit that treatment should only be given where living, moving lice are found, and that prophylactic treatment of contacts is not recommended.
CKS recommends either wet combing or a physical insecticide such as dimeticone, and specifies that chemical treatments require a second application after seven days to kill lice emerging from eggs.
CKS notes growing resistance to traditional neurotoxic insecticides, which is why dimeticone-based physical treatments and wet combing are now generally preferred.
UK Health Security Agency guidance on infection control in schools is explicit that children with head lice should not be excluded from school, and that no time off is required.
CKS advises that laundering of bedding and clothing is unnecessary, since head lice cannot survive away from the scalp for long.
You have to find a living, moving louse. Nits — the pale empty shells — remain glued to the hair for months after successful treatment.
Treating on the basis of nits alone is the commonest mistake, and it means repeated treatment for an infestation that has already gone.
No. Check everyone by combing, and treat only those with live lice.
Treating people who do not have them wastes money and achieves nothing.
No, and this is where most of the effort is wasted. Lice die within about a day away from a scalp.
No hot washes, no bagging toys, no spraying furniture — none of it changes the outcome.
Yes. Exclusion is not recommended and does not reduce spread.
Tell the school so other parents can check, but there is no need to keep them home.
No, and it is worth saying clearly. Lice are spread by head-to-head contact and are entirely unrelated to hygiene.
Clean hair is no protection whatsoever.
Usually not. Failure is almost always one of three things: only one dose was applied, too little lotion was used for the hair length, or nits were mistaken for live lice.
If you used a traditional insecticide, resistance is possible — switch to dimeticone, which works physically and cannot be resisted.
Yes, seven days later, every time. No treatment reliably kills every egg, and the second dose kills what hatches afterwards.
Missing it is the single most common cause of apparent treatment failure.
Done properly it works, and it is free. The schedule matters — days 1, 5, 9 and 13, then a check on day 17.
It fails when sessions are skipped or rushed, not because the method is weak.
There is no good evidence they work. Regular detection combing is more useful and costs nothing.
August 24, 2026
Ongoing
Time to be seen
Appointment length
Your NHS record in the room
Written treatment plan
Told when a test isn’t needed
Cost
Same day, usually
20 minutes
Yes, with your consent
Included
Yes, and told why
£40 for 20 minutes
Varies by practice
Typically 10 minutes
Yes, your full record
Not routinely
Usually
Free
Same day
Often 10 to 15 minutes
Usually not
Sometimes charged
Varies by provider
Often a subscription
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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