Private prescriptions

• Private and NHS care for the same condition should be kept separate.
• We have a responsibility to make rational decisions when deciding how resources will be allocated. We must act fairly between patients.
• Patients may opt into or out of NHS care at any stage.
• Patients should be neither advantaged nor disadvantaged for seeking private health care.
• Patients who have had a private consultation for investigations and diagnosis may transfer to the NHS for any subsequent treatment but must be treated according to NHS protocols.
• All doctors have a duty to share information with others providing care and treatment for their patients.

Wellington Way health centre follows the following NHS England guidance regarding requests for blood tests to be done by a private provider:

If a patient has chosen to pay for private healthcare, they are responsible for paying for all costs, including tests, and the private provider is responsible for managing every aspect of their healthcare (unless the patient chooses to transfer back to the NHS at a later date to continue treatment).

For that reason, private providers should not be asking GPs to arrange any tests that they deem necessary, and intend to use, to make a diagnosis and recommend a course of treatment with.

It is the private provider’s responsibility to arrange tests for patients whose care they are managing, and the patient’s responsibility to pay for them.

A request to prescribe a new medication will not be automatically be accepted.

If a private doctor or specialist recommends a particular medication this will  need to be prescribed  by them  on a private prescription. Patients should obtain this prescription at a community pharmacy.

Our GP’s can consider transferring private prescription to an NHS prescription, if it is appropriate to do so, and providing that the following criteria is met:

• The medication is prescribable on the NHS and routinely prescribed by GP practices
• The use of the medication is compatible with national clinical or prescribing guidelines.
• There is a clinical need and appropriateness of the suggested medication.

In some cases the GP may not feel happy to issue the medication , in this case the patient must obtain a private prescription to take to the pharmacy

The practice reserves the right to reject any request from a private Specialist to prescribe medications on an ongoing basis. Patients who are issued a medication by a private specialist will need to pay the private prescription fee for that item.