Terms & Conditions of Booking an Appointment

A new appointment refers to the first time you are seen in a private clinic about a new problem. If you have been seen in the NHS previously about the same problem it will still be classed as a new appointment if and when you transfer your care to the private sector. If you have previously been seen and have a new unrelated problem then it will be classed as a new consultation. If you are coming back for a general skin check on an annual or biennial basis, it will be a new consultation but a NEW/OLD discount may apply.

A follow up relates to a review regarding the original problem at a defined interval, usually 6 weeks to 3 months. Hair follow ups may include review at 6 months or annually and are relating to the original problem and charged accordingly for the longer appointment.

All fees can be found in the CMA attachment and on the website. If you select the wrong type of appointment we reserve the right to adjust your invoice accordingly.

The standard appointment lengths are 30 minutes for new patients and 20 minutes for follow up patients but it is the nature of medicine that some consultations are shorter and the appointment is quicker and others are more complex and take longer. New hair appointments are 40 minutes and follow ups 30 minutes. The appointment length includes reviewing any clinical information and clinical admin (ordering tests, prescriptions, generation of a letter and arranging follow ups) and does not relate to the consultation alone.

We do not discount the appointment if it is shorter than the length specified and we do not charge more if it takes longer.

Unless your insurer has agreed a higher tariff for extended appointments (eg Aviva), we will only see patients with hair loss or alopecia on a self-pay basis, even if they have medical insurance. It may be possible for individuals to then claim back the cost from their insurers, depending on the terms of their policy.

If you have private medical insurance, please contact your insurer before your consultation, to check the terms of your policy, particularly the level and type of outpatient cover you have, including any reimbursement limits on individual consultation fees.

If you have a large excess payable and it is likely that the consultation costs will be less than this, it may be better to self-fund the appointment. We can advise on this at the time of your appointment.

Please decide by the time of the appointment if you are using your insurance or self-funding as we will direct the invoice to the appropriate body. We reserve the right to charge an administration fee for later re-directing a self-pay invoice to your insurer due to time and costs involved. This is charged at £50.

Our consultants are recognised by the private medical insurers: Allianz, Aviva, AXA PPP, Cigna, CS Healthcare, BUPA, Exeter Friendly, Healix, Health on line, Simply Health, Vitality, WPA. If your insurer is not listed here, please let us know as you may still be eligible for treatment with us. Please note you are responsible for any fees not covered by your insurer.

Letters are addressed to the patient and are shared on the patient portal after the consultation. We will notify you when they are ready to be viewed. You can then download them and save them for your keeping, should you wish. Other files including photos, histology reports and investigations can also be viewed on the patient portal. Your GP does not have routine access to this information. You can download any file and send to your GP and this action implies your consent for the sharing of your information with a third party and can therefore be sent without encryption.

It is good practice to share medical information with your GP, but we understand that some patients do not want their GP involved. We would advise that you only share your GP details with us if you want them involved. One advantage of involving your GP is the potential for them to add items for repeat prescription.

After your appointment you will get a letter that sets out a clear management plan. Our website has a lot of additional useful resources. If the instructions are not clear, we will clarify any misunderstanding related to that appointment. We are happy to address brief, non-urgent queries by email for up to one month after your consultation.

We do not engage in repeated emails with patients in regard to ongoing issues related to their medical issue. In this situation you will require a follow up consultation that can be face to face or virtual.

A very short query that does not require accessing your medical records may be exempt from a charge. Any query that requires access to your medical records and takes up professional / secretarial time is chargeable at £40 per email. These fees will be directed to the patient even if your consultation was covered by medical insurance.

We will give you enough medication to last until your next appointment. If a follow up appointment has not been advised, you will be given an initial prescription with the understanding that you will seek a repeat prescription from your GP. If your GP will not prescribe medication and you require ongoing prescriptions, you will require ongoing appointments to supervise the treatment, as we are legally obliged to do this as part of responsible prescribing. The longest interval between appointments for monitoring is 12 months, i.e. you will need an annual review at the very least.

We are not responsible if the pharmacy does not dispense enough medication or makes a dispensing error. Requests for further prescriptions due to a pharmacy dispensing error or due to a patient not booking an appointment at the recommended time will be charged for at £25. Please note that includes patients not booking a follow up with enough notice to be seen before running out. Follow up appointments need to be made with at least 4 weeks notice but we would recommend booking 6-8 weeks to make sure you can be seen at a convenient time and location.

Repeat prescription fees will be directed to the patient even if your consultation was covered by medical insurance.

For “out of clinic” prescription requests we use specific online pharmacies that have a secure system for authorising the prescription without the need for a wet signature. The pharmacies will contact patients for payment of the prescription cost and delivery.

We can leave traditional hospital prescriptions at the hospital reception for collection. We will notify you when we have done this and prescriptions must be collected and dispensed within 7 days. If a prescription is not cashed and requires re-writing, a second prescription charge will be invoiced.

All self-funded appointments require a £75 deposit at the time of booking to secure the appointment. If you have booked your appointment online, we will contact you to take a deposit. Unfortunately, we are unable to provide an online deposit payment link at this time. This deposit will be applied against the cost of your consultation. Deposits are strictly non-refundable in the event of a cancellation with less than two working days' notice or in cases of non-attendance. Where sufficient notice is provided, deposits may, at our discretion, be transferred to a rescheduled appointment or refunded minus a £5 transaction fee.

Non-attendance or missing your appointment will be charged for at £75. This applies if you are self-funding or using medical insurance. The fee will be directed to the individual and not the insurance company. We will email appointment confirmations to the registered email and text you in advance to confirm the appointment location and time.

Late notice cancellation less than two working days before your appointment will be charged at the same rate of £75 unless we can fill the appointment. Please note that the weekend is not a working day. You will need to cancel a Monday appointment on the preceding Wednesday at the very latest to give us Thursday and Friday to fill the gap.

All NEW self-pay appointments must be paid on the day by credit card or cheque or paid in advance via bank transfer. If you want to pay in advance please contact us so we can raise an invoice for you, which can be accessed via the patient portal.

For existing follow up patients, you can pay directly via bank transfer or via credit card using the portal. Payment is due within 7 days. Reminders will be sent at 7 day intervals. After 3 non-payment reminders we will employ the services of a debt recovery agency and this may affect your credit rating. We reserve the right to add interest to delayed payments and an administration fee for debt recovery. Please contact us as soon as possible if circumstances mean you cannot pay your invoice in accordance with these terms to avoid late payment charges.