Terms and conditions
Version 2.0 (05 May 2021)
Effective as of 05 May 2021
This document supersedes all previous versions including version 1.21 (September 2020)
Dear Patient,
Thank you for booking an appointment to see Dr Coker for your outpatient consultation. Dr Coker is a Consultant Physician in Respiratory Medicine, Internal Medicine, Sleep Medicine and an Asthma and Allergy Specialist.
This letter sets out some important information that we are required by law to provide to you. This is for your information only and is not a bill. As this letter includes information about our charges, if you do not have private medical insurance but someone else will be paying your bill, you may wish to pass a copy of this document to them. Please note that even if someone else is paying your bill or if you have private medical insurance, you are responsible for paying any charges which they do not pay.
Appointment information
Appointments are up to 30 minutes in length and every consultation session is chargeable at the standard rate (this applies to both clinic consultations and telephone consultations).
Please be aware that to ensure timely medical care and efficiency, follow up appointments will be scheduled automatically, and you will be informed of this via email only; a text message reminder of the appointment date and time will also be sent to you, no later than two working days prior to the scheduled appointment time. Please be aware that due to this, non-attendance and late cancellations will be subject to the full consultation fee.
If you do not attend your scheduled appointment time promptly and are late attending, you will not be seen by the doctor and you will be charged the full consultation fee for the missed appointment (for further information, please see “Cancellations/Appointment Non-Attendance/Appointment Late Arrival” sub-heading below).
For patients attending for CPAP review, please ensure that you bring along your equipment to each appointment so that Dr Coker can review your data and kit.
Please be aware that to obtain results of investigations, patients are required to arrange/attend a follow up appointment with the doctor to discuss these in full.
Complex conditions
Please consider booking a double appointment (one hour) if you have a complex history and/or have a lot of material you would like to go through with Dr Coker, e.g., previous results.
Consultation & reporting fees/charges
Dr Coker’s fee for a consultation will not exceed £300.00 for up to 30 minutes, these estimates are correct as of the date of this document when it was emailed to you. Consultations exceeding 30 minutes will charged at the standard pro rata rate of £10.00 per minute. All single consultations are booked for up to 30 minutes in length, however, if you believe that you require additional time before the consultation takes place, please let the practice know so a longer consultation time can be scheduled for you, to avoid delays for other patients. Please allow 10 minutes at the end of the allocated consultation time for dictation, prescriptions and completing request forms. The time taken to dictate clinical letters is chargeable and constitutes part of the (chargeable) consultation time.
This fee is for the consultation only and does not include any tests or diagnostics or follow up appointments.
A spirometry test may need to be performed during your consultation for which there is an additional charge of up to £195.00; please note that this test does not form part of Dr Coker’s consultation fee and will be invoiced to you separately post-consultation.
Please note that charges also apply for cardiac reporting and as of the date of this letter the fee for this is £80.00 per report, per test. Please note that this fee is in addition to the relevant charges applied by the hospital.
Self-funded patients
Please be aware that if you are self-funding for your appointment, payment will be required upfront, no later than two, full working days, prior to each appointment or at the time of booking if the booking falls within this timescale.If payment is not received within this timeframe, it will be automatically cancelled, and you will be informed of this via email and/or text message. Please also note that fees paid are non-refundable.
For any expenses accrued during your consultation (i.e., Spirometry testing, additional consultation time etc.) an invoice will be issued to you, post-appointment and payments are due within 7 days of issue. Late payment will result in additional charges, and on the rare occasion payment is not received after repeated contact attempts, the matter will be escalated to debt recovery/courts.
Private medical insurance
If you have private medical insurance, please contact your insurer prior to every 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. Please note you are responsible for any expenses not covered by your insurer. Payments for insurance shortfalls and or invoices declined by your insurer are due within 7 days of receipt of the invoice. Late payment will result in additional charges, and on the rare occasion payment is not made after repeated attempts, the matter will be escalated to debt recovery/courts.
Please note that we do not accept the following insurance companies:
- Bupa UK
- AXA PPP
- Health Online (associated with AXA PPP)
- Saga (associated with AXA PPP)
- Any other insurance companies that are affiliated with the above that are not in the above-mentioned list.
Please note that for some insurance providers we will require payment upfront prior to the consultation, the practice will advise you of this prior to your consultation. Once the relevant payment has been received, a receipt will be issued to enable you to claim the fees back directly from your insurer. Please be advised that it will be at your insurers discretion whether to issue a full reimbursement, hence we would advise that you seek approval from them before arranging payment.
Invoices
All invoices must be paid within 7 days of issue and late payment of invoices will incur an additional administration fee of £25.00. For non-payment of consultation and other related fees, this will result in us referring you to an external debt recovery agency and/or taking appropriate legal action.
Administrative charges (all payable upfront)
Please find below the applicable administrative prices for commonly requested items. Please note that separate fees apply for medical reports, medical exemption letters, etc. and are available upon request. Please contact the practice on 07923 385 054 / 020 7118 5600 or email us at info@chestclinic.co.uk if you require further information.
Prescriptions: Please ensure you provide the correct address and the name, strength and frequency of medications required; failure to supply the correct information can lead to additional charges. Repeat prescriptions will only be issued at the discretion of the doctor and subject to timely assessments.
- £15.00 (electronic prescription issued by Pharmacierge)
- £30.00 (paper prescription posted to home address)*
*Please note that we no longer issue/arrange prescriptions via fax.
Medical certificates: £20.00
Duplicate request forms (if previously sent): £20.00
Copies of previous clinic letters: £20.00
Cancellations / appointment non-attendance / appointment late arrival
Should you cancel your appointment with less than two working days’ notice or not attend your appointment, a cancellation / no show fee of up to 100% of the appointment fee may be charged. Please do not leave a phone message if cancelling an appointment – either speak to a member of the practice or send an email to info@chestclinic.co.uk and seek confirmation of cancellation instructions to avoid charges.
If you do not attend your scheduled appointment time promptly and are late attending, you will not be seen by the doctor and you will be charged the full consultation fee for the missed appointment.
Testing/investigations
Following your consultation, you may require certain tests (such as blood tests or imaging, for example an X-ray, MRI or CT scan) to help Dr Coker diagnose your condition. If the test is undertaken by the clinic or hospital the fees for those tests will be determined by the relevant facility and charged to you, or your private medical insurer, separately.
Important information regarding investigations
Please make sure that you kindly bring with you copies of any blood tests completed by your GP, or results sent directly to you (e.g., from Medichecks) as we may not have easy access to this during the consultation. We would not recommend having specialized tests undertaken at a hospital / hospital network Dr Coker does not work for. There is an administrative charge of £15.00 to source results we do not have direct access to.
Emails
We receive a large volume of emails each day. Please note we are unable to respond to clinical queries or complicated questions by email – you will be asked to make an appointment to discuss such issues. If you have undergone investigations, the results will be discussed with you at the next appointment.
In exceptional circumstances, email correspondence with Dr Coker regarding clinical matters can be arranged, however, please note that relevant charges will apply at a pro-rata rate per email. (e.g., 15 minutes = £150.00).
Patient discharge
If you choose not to return to the clinic for a follow up appointment within the recommend time frame for review (as per Dr Coker’s recommendations) you will automatically be discharged from the practice after 3 months (3 months as of recommended follow up appointment date). After discharge has occurred, you may return to the clinic for follow up and review, however you will be considered as a new patient and the relevant charges for this will apply.
Unacceptable behaviours
Please note that the practice operates a zero-tolerance policy in relation to poor patient conduct and behaviour which includes shouting, swearing and abusive language. Any patients who demonstrate these behaviours will be automatically discharged from the practice and any invitation of a follow up appointment/treatment will be immediately withdrawn and the relevant discharge letter will be issued.
Financial interests
We are legally obliged to inform you that Dr Coker has no financial interest in London Bridge Hospital or The Harley Street Clinic. Dr Coker also has NO financial interest in the equipment used at these hospitals NEITHER does she receive any financial incentives or commission for tests or any other investigations.
Dr Coker does have her own high-quality equipment used to perform spirometry tests during consultations, 24hr pulse oximeter equipment and the best equipment used to perform home based polysomnography testing (sleep studies).
Quality information
You can compare independent information about the quality of private treatment offered at the hospital and other private healthcare providers from the Private Healthcare Information Network
(PHIN) website:
www.phin.org.uk.
If you have any questions or queries regarding the contents of this document, please do not hesitate to contact the practice on 020 7118 5600 \ 07923 385 054 or email us at info@chestclinic.co.uk
We look forward to seeing you.
Yours sincerely,
Nicola Hudson
Practice Manager for Dr Bernadette Coker
Patient has been advised regarding practice fees for consultation and spirometry. If the patient has health care cover, they have been advised to check the limit of cover on their insurance policy and to make enquiries directly with the hospital regarding price list for investigations before scheduling appointments to have these performed at the hospital. Patients will be responsible for any shortfalls for consultation/treatments/tests.