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Private Referrals Policy
It is not necessary for the patient to obtain a referral letter from the GP to see a private provider.
They can self refer by contacting the provider and arranging an appointment. The GP is able to provide a summary of their current and past problems, current medication and allergies to facilitate this and ensure that the private provider has up to date information about the patient.
If the GP has advised a referral and the patient chooses to use a private provider rather than the NHS the GP can provide the referral letter that would have been sent to the NHS.
If the patient has self referred and the private provider requires a form to be completed, Oak Tree Health Centre will charge for this in line with the most recent price list as this is not NHS work.
Tests Requested by a Private Provider
If a test or investigation request falls outside of the care ordinarily provided by the GP or interpretation of that test is outside the GP’s knowledge and competence Oak Tree Health Centre will generally not perform them. The private provider can request and action them in the private setting.
Private prescription Requests
The GP does not have to prescribe any medication recommended by a private provider.
If the medication requested is within the normal scope of the GP’s practice and competency, we would normally take on prescribing after private provider’s advice. We do not issue urgent prescriptions for any private provider and require that a request is made to us in writing and is signed by the provider. It should be made clear what counselling and advice has been provided to the patient before we agree to prescribe.
We may request that the consultant start and stabilise a medication before we take over prescribing.
However, if the medication is considered specialist only, shared care medication, off license use, outside of our knowledge or level of competency or is not in our local formulary guidelines we will not prescribe.
