Choosing a private healthcare consultant (or other private healthcare practitioner) isn’t always easy. With lots of options out there, how do you ensure you make the right decision? We’ve put together some tips and tricks of the trade to steer you in the right direction.
Advice and Recommendations
If you’ve visited your GP, they will almost certainly have views about which practitioner is most suitable. Some of this will be based on published data, such as waiting times and location. If you want to be seen sooner or in a particular place, that will certainly affect the recommendation. But GPs also tend to know who is considered to be good, and what the local medical rumour mill is saying. They may not tell you the precise basis for their recommendation, but it’s likely to be reasonably sound. It’s certainly well worth listening if they seem to be directing you away from a particular practitioner or hospital.
If you are seeing another specialist for a different medical condition, it’s worth asking them who to see because they’ll still be in the know even if it’s not their specialty.
Medical Concierge Services
There are also a number of medical concierge services that will provide recommendations for private healthcare. These all promise to find you a suitable practitioner who fits your requirements. However, you need to be aware of the basis for their recommendations.
Many are free to patients, but will instead be funded by commission. They, therefore, have an incentive to recommend the clinics or doctors who pay the most. Some services are linked to particular hospitals or clinics, and will only recommend doctors who practice at those clinics.
Online Research
It is always worth checking your consultant via the General Medical Council, or other regulators.
The regulators hold lists of all those who are qualified and registered to practise in the UK, and you can check easily online. The internet, and social media in particular, also provides some information. These may include reviews of doctors and/or hospitals and personal recommendations.
However, one person’s perfect consultant may be another’s nightmare, so do research anyone who is recommended. A quick Google of the name will help you to find out if there is any adverse ‘chat’ about a particular person online since most people are quick to take to social media with complaints. You also need to remember that rating sites are not always 100% accurate and that it is possible to post false reviews (both positive and negative).
Using Published Data
There is also published data available that may influence your decision. The NHS provides a search facility for both consultants and hospitals. This includes some private hospitals that provide services to the NHS (and its worth noting most private consultants also work in the NHS).
However, the information can be limited. For hospitals, it covers waiting times; chances of staying in overnight after a procedure; and the outcome of the latest Care Quality Commission (CQC) assessment. This can advise you which hospitals to avoid, but is less helpful when it comes to choosing a consultant.
There is very little published about most consultants – apart from their location. The NHS publishes outcome data for ten specific procedures, but it’s not very helpful if it’s not one of those procedures you’re in need of. In some specialities, such as cardiac surgery, more information is published.
However, care is needed when interpreting this information. The number of times each surgeon has carried out each procedure will tell you their level of experience: more is probably better. However, the mortality rate is less helpful, because a high mortality rate is not necessarily bad. Some very good surgeons are prepared to operate on sicker patients. These patients, however, are more likely to die during or just after the operation, giving those surgeons—many among the best in the world—higher mortality rates.
The PHIN website also publishes information to help patients choose hospitals and consultants, but it is, again, a bit limited. The outcomes data, in particular, is a bit sparse.
A Good Relationship
Finally, good healthcare depends very much on the relationship between practitioner and patient. If you do not like your chosen consultant when you finally meet face-to-face, it may be worth going elsewhere.
If you’d like help choosing a private healthcare practitioner, simply Log in to your account and search our Consultant Directory or raise a Concierge case.
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