Why You Should Pay Privately to See a GP

in General 09 September 2015

Why You Should Pay Privately to See a GP

As a result of private GP practices booming and NHS surgeries struggling to cope with doctor shortages and pressure from all directions, more patients are deciding to take matters into their own hands and pay privately to see their general doctors. They're even willing to pay for private surgeries, especially because they're able to often get same-day or next-day appointments without having to be placed on a long waiting list before seeing their doctors and getting the care they need.

Continue reading for a list of reasons why you should follow suit and pay privately to see your GP the next time you need to make an appointment for a general check-up or a specific ailment.

The Ability to Be Able to Choose Your Own Doctor

When it comes to GPs and specialists, you probably want to be able to choose who will treat you. If you work through the NHS, though, you may not have much of a choice. But if you have the budget to pay privately, you can choose whichever GP you like. Just make sure that you get the rates for the services upfront so that you will not be surprised by the bill after you receive the treatments that you need.

What You Should Consider Before Paying Privately

Before you opt to pay privately the next time you see your GP, consider whether or not you can really afford it. The costs of seeing your doctor will probably be really high unless you already have a good private health insurance plan in place.

You should also consider whether or not you will be able to cover any additional costs that can be tacked onto your bill unexpectedly. For example, you may not recover from a procedure or operation as fast as you or your doctor originally anticipated, and this could result in a longer stay and higher costs out-of-pocket.

Finally, you need to determine whether or not a private medical facility will have the resources and staff necessary to deal with a variety of complications that could arise during your treatment. The last thing you want to do is put your health at risk.

Get Treatments that aren't Available Through the NHS

Finally, it is also important to note that some treatments, such as cosmetic surgery as one example, are simply not available on the NHS. Therefore, your best option is to simply take matters into your own hands and pay privately for these services, in addition to paying privately when you need to see a general practitioner.

As you can see, there are many reasons why more and more patients throughout the UK are choosing to pay privately to see GPs at places like the http://www.londondoctorsclinic.co.uk/ for those times when they need to see a GP, rather than going through NHS. If you want to take more control over your medical treatment and the doctors and specialists that you see, you should consider doing the same and setting aside a budget for paying privately.

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