A referral letter to the private specialist of your choice, with your history and findings summarised for them.
Unhurried care from a GMC-registered GP
6am to 10pm, seven days a week
Prescriptions, sick notes and referral letters included
Your NHS records in the room, with your consent
Care led personally by Dr Khan
Attentive, unhurried care that listens properly
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Most private consultants and many diagnostic providers require a GP referral before they will see you, and some insurers insist on one.
The letter summarises your history, what was found, and the specific question being asked of the specialist — which is what makes a referral useful rather than merely procedural.
The GP assesses you and establishes whether a specialist is the right next step — and which specialty.
Name one if you have someone in mind. If not, the GP can suggest a specialty and you choose the consultant and hospital.
Sent to you digitally. Take it to whichever provider you book with.
Where a specialist will obviously want bloods or a scan, we arrange those beforehand — so your first appointment is spent on decisions rather than on ordering tests.
The consultation has two jobs: deciding whether a specialist is the right next step, and writing a letter that makes the first appointment count.
This shapes everything. "I want someone to tell me whether this is endometriosis" produces a different letter from "I want a second opinion on the plan I have been given", which produces a different letter again from "I want this operated on". Say which it is.
Sometimes a referral is not the right answer — the problem has not been investigated far enough for a specialist to add anything, or it is squarely within general practice, or a test would settle it more cheaply and faster. Where that is the case the GP will say so, and the fee still covers the assessment.
Equally, sometimes the specialty you had in mind is not the right one. Pelvic pain can belong with gynaecology, urology, colorectal or pain medicine depending on the pattern, and a referral into the wrong clinic costs months.
Name one if you have someone in mind — from a recommendation, a previous episode, or your own research. If not, the GP can suggest a specialty and sub-specialty and you choose the consultant and hospital. It is worth checking your chosen consultant's NHS practice as well as their private one; most work in both, and their sub-specialist interest is usually listed on the trust site.
Where a specialist will obviously want bloods or imaging, the GP arranges them before the appointment. Arriving with results turns a first appointment into a decision rather than a test-ordering exercise, and frequently saves an entire cycle of waiting.
This is a referral into private care. We cannot refer you into an NHS specialist pathway — only your registered NHS GP can do that.
If your assessment suggests NHS care is the right route, whether on clinical or cost grounds, the GP will say so and explain how to arrange it.
A referral that says only "please see and advise" wastes your first appointment. One that sets out the history and asks a specific question means the specialist starts where you left off.
The letter is issued to you digitally. You book the specialist yourself and take the letter with you — we do not book on your behalf, which means you keep control of who, where and when.
Your history, medication, what was found, results to date, and the specific question being asked. A letter that says only "please see and advise" wastes your first appointment; one that sets out the story means the specialist starts where you left off.
The specialist's letter comes back to you, and to whoever you nominate. Ask them to copy your NHS GP — privately this only happens if requested, and a practice that does not know you have been seen cannot follow anything up.
If the specialist recommends something you want a second view on, that is entirely reasonable and we can help you think it through.
Where the assessment points to an NHS pathway — particularly an urgent suspected-cancer one — we write to your NHS GP the same day setting out the findings and reasoning, rather than leaving you to relay it. That letter is often the most valuable thing the appointment produces.
This is a referral into private care. We cannot refer you into an NHS specialist pathway — only your registered NHS GP can do that. If your assessment suggests NHS care is the right route, the GP will tell you and explain how to arrange it.
No — and this is the most important limitation to understand. Only a GP working within the NHS can make an NHS referral. Not for a fee, not urgently, not at all. Any private service implying otherwise is misleading you.
That includes urgent two-week-wait cancer pathways, which are NHS only. Where your symptoms warrant one, we will say so plainly and write to your NHS GP the same day — because that pathway is genuinely the right route and is usually faster than the private equivalent for what actually matters.
Most consultants require one, and most insurers insist on it. A few clinics accept self-referral, particularly in dermatology and physiotherapy.
Even where self-referral is possible, a proper letter is worth having. A specialist who receives your history, medication and results starts from a different place than one meeting you cold with twenty minutes to reconstruct it.
Usually, but ring your insurer before booking anything. Most require pre-authorisation, issue a claim number, and restrict you to approved consultants and hospitals. Some exclude pre-existing conditions, and most exclude anything already being investigated when the policy started.
We can write the letter your insurer needs. We cannot promise what they will fund — only they can tell you that.
Yes, and you should. Name them and the letter is addressed to them. If you do not have someone in mind, the GP will suggest the right specialty and you pick from there.
Two things worth checking: their sub-specialist interest — within any specialty, consultants differ considerably in what they focus on — and their GMC registration, which is public and takes a minute.
The initial consultation is typically the smallest part. Investigations, follow-up appointments and any procedure are all separate, and for anything requiring surgery or ongoing treatment the total can be considerable and is hard to predict at the outset.
Ask the clinic for the likely full pathway cost, not just the first appointment. If funding it would be a genuine strain, the NHS route is the better one and we would rather say so.
Privately, usually days to a few weeks depending on specialty. That is the main advantage over NHS waits in most areas — though not all, and for some specialties in some regions the NHS wait is now short enough that paying adds little.
Often yes. Many private imaging providers accept a GP request directly, so an MRI, CT or ultrasound can frequently be arranged without a consultant appointment first — which saves both a step and a fee. We will tell you when that is the sensible route.
Take the time you need. A second opinion before any significant procedure is entirely reasonable and no surgeon should take offence at it. We can talk through what you have been told, what the alternatives are, and what questions are worth asking before you commit.
Clinically reviewed by Dr Mohammad Zubair Khan, GMC 7563469
Last reviewed
August 23, 2026
On this page
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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