What is the difference?
Our patients come to us for a number of reasons. The most common reason is that they find their busy lives makes getting to see their NHS GP at a time convenient to them is increasingly difficult. The ability to choose to see a GP the same day or at a time to suit their lifestyle is particularly attractive.  Our Extended Surgery Hours of 8am - 8pm Monday to Friday and 9am - 1pm on Saturday makes this possible.

Some of our patients who are registered with large NHS practices also value the continuity of care DOCTORnow can offer – in the larger practices they can see any one of a number of GPs who may not know their history.

We offer ½ hour consultations instead of the 5 or 10 minute time slots available in the average NHS practice; we have a lot more time to discuss the health issue, and provide the right information to ensure the patient and GP can make an informed decision. (We hope to put you in charge of your care with our support.)

Our Corporate customers find the time and cost saving afforded by having a Private GP service makes sound economic sense. Instead of staff having to take time out of the working day, they can see a GP at a time better for the business. The healthcheck service also enables companies to be assured that key personnel are regularly having their health assessed.

Finally, non-members often call us to get a second opinion. Sometimes we all need reassurance on some advice we have been given.

How we work with NHS Practices
It is our philosophy to work in harmony with NHS GPs. DOCTORnow will always seek permission to keep patient's NHS GP's informed. In rare circumstances this may not be appropriate but exceptions will be judged on a case-by-case basis. Should the patient decide that they do not wish their NHS GP to be appraised of a clinical situation DOCTORnow reserves the right to withdraw service on ethical and safety grounds.

Should a patient require a referral to a specialist this can be done via the private sector or NHS as requested or as appropriate. DOCTORnow reserves the right to decline referrals that are felt to be medically inappropriate and likely to be to the detriment of the patient. As a private practice, NHS referrals can be made routinely for those NHS eligible patients. Referrals to the NHS from a private doctor do not positively or negatively affect the usual waiting times. A referral privately does not preclude the specialist from transferring an individual's care to the NHS if that was felt to be in the best interests of the patient. This transfer would not bypass the usual NHS waiting times.

All prescriptions issued by DOCTORnow will be outside the NHS prescription system. All chemists will fill private prescriptions but will make a charge based on the true cost of the medication. In general chemists tend to adhere to a formula to set the private price: dispensing fee + cost of the medication + 50% of the cost of the medication and there is usually a fixed minimum fee of £6.00.

If a patient wishes to get an NHS script for their medication then DOCTORnow is happy to write to an individual's NHS GP giving the clinical details and the suggested prescription. However the NHS GP has no obligation to fill the request though many who know our service do: they may insist on seeing the patient to make their own assessment and judgement or they may be unable to prescribe certain items because the items are not on the approved lists as set by the practice's formulary or by the Primary Care Trust.

How we work with our patients
All patients' demographic details and clinical records are held on a secure data based powered by bespoke clinical software.

All patient letters generated within DOCTORnow will automatically be copied to the patients as well as the Specialist and all post received regarding the patient will be scanned to the computer record and the original sent to the patient with a copy to any other medic involved with their care as appropriate. Copies of all test results will be supplied to the patient as a routine. A letter of explanation will accompany the results and this may be preceded by a telephone call as appropriate.

Access to records: a copy of the computer record can be requested at any stage. There will be no charge to our members for this service.

We are able to offer or arrange all tests. All tests requested by DOCTORnow will be done privately and so will incur a charge. The costs of individual test are available on request.

Repeat prescriptions: we will only prescribe repeat prescriptions for those patients whom we have seen. Requests can be made by telephone, fax, letter or e-mail. We are able to send prescriptions to your registered address or to the chemist of your choice. We are also able to fax or ‘ring through’ prescriptions to local chemists with whom we have an on-going relationship. For further details please ring the office.

DOCTORnow's service is guaranteed 24 hours a day, seven days per week for all our members. Our office number will automatically divert the calls to the emergency doctor's phone; rarely a patient may be asked to leave a name and contact number on an answer phone: this would only occur if the emergency doctor was in an area of poor signal of or actually seeing a patient. Our response to such a message would be prompt.