Visiting the Clinic
On this page:
People tend to be referred to my clinic in a number of ways:
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Patient self-referral
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Local, regional and national GP referrals
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Friends and family recommendations
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Insurance company recommendations
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Referrals from other ENT consultants
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Referrals from consultants of other specialities
How to arrange an appointment:
Please phone 0207 486 7431 during office hours or email office@earspecialistclinic.co.uk
Appointments at OneWelbeck can now be booked online via the OneWelbeck Booking Portal
If you have private medical insurance, please contact your provider at this stage to ensure cover.
My practice manager Mandy is in regular contact with me for any specific issues so please ask if you have any specific queries. Electronic referrals mean things can be dealt with efficiently. The office team will process your details and arrange an appointment time and location with you.
If you have a referral letter please email it to office@earspecialistclinic.co.uk ahead of the appointment.
The clinic appointment:
On the day, the clinic facility may also have their own registration forms to fill when you arrive, so please do allow 15 extra minutes to do this before your appointment.
You will receive a detailed consultation regarding your problem. This will be followed by a clinical examination and if needed, outpatient procedures such as ear microsuction and flexible nasendoscopy. Certain in-visit tests are available such as pure tone audiometry and tympanometry to assess hearing and middle ear pressure.
I typically allow 20-30 minutes for an initial consultation and 15-20 minutes for a follow-up but above all want to provide a high-quality service that you are pleased with. I always aim to keep appointments to time, though the nature of medical care means that if unusually a clinic is late running, please do be sure that I will give you the full attention required.
I write a letter to your GP detailing your care after every consultation.
Your appointment may result in one of a number of outcomes:
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Problem solved
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A prescribed course of medical treatment
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An agreed period of observation and follow-up
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A plan for further tests needed for diagnosis and treatment planning – some of these eg CT, MRI scanning may be available the same day depending on clinic location. Once the investigation results have been released, I may ask you to arrange a follow-up appointment or if simple, I can write to you with the results.
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An operation is recommended (See the If you need an operation page)
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A referral for hearing aid fitting – this is performed by an audiologist and may be available within the same facility on the day. Prior to referring you for this, we will have discussed all the different surgical and non-surgical options available.
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Referral to another specialist. If any nose or throat surgery is required, I offer the benefit of recommending the best available surgeon for your particular condition from a wide network of colleagues in the ENT world. Sometimes it is appropriate to involve specialists from fields allied to ENT, such as audiovestibular medicine, maxillofacial surgery and neurology. This approach mirrors my busy NHS practice, in which I receive referrals from other ENT consultants regionally and nationally, and means you receive only the highest quality care from a specialist regularly dealing with your specific problem.
Please do call my office with plenty of notice if you are unable to attend your appointment for any reason. Non-attendance and late cancellations do significantly disrupt the clinic and prevent patients from having earlier appointments. Different clinics have different cancellation policies. Your co-operation is very much appreciated.
Fees
If you have private medical insurance, then fees will be invoiced and settled directly between my office and your insurance company. I am recognised and fee-assured by all major private healthcare insurance companies. Just contact your provider in advance of your appointment with me and give your details including the pre-authorisation number to my office when booking your appointment. If you are insured by a company not listed here that’s no problem – just provide your details to my office in good time and we can check the necessary registrations are in place.
Please do always make sure you check with your insurance company what exactly you’re covered for in advance of any consultations and treatment.
If you are funding your own care, it is important to be aware of how private medical facilities work:
These are my standard consultation fees which are set competitively with other similar high-quality services.
My office team will send you an invoice after the consultation with details on how to pay the consultation fees.
This differs from facility fees which are usually settled at the hospital on the day (explained below).
'Facility Fees' explained
If you are self-paying then the clinic / hospital facility will also require you to settle a separate facility fee for any procedures carried out . (There is no facility fee for consultation alone)
The facility fee covers the costs of any procedures and tests - microsuction equipment, endoscope decontamination, hearing tests, blood tests and any scans you may have during your visit. These fees tend to vary between clinic locations and are independent of my consultation fee which remains the same, hence why the bills are separate.
For example, OneWelbeck’s current facility fees for self-paying patients are:
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Microsuction of the ear - £95
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Flexible endoscopic examination of the nose and throat - £150
The equivalent fees at 9 Harley Street are:
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Microsuction of the ear - £140
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Flexible endoscopic examination of the nose and throat - £220
Patients with private medical insurance will be covered for these facility fees but should check if they have any excess to pay or limitations on your policy.
If undertaking procedures that will incur you extra cost, I will always be happy to advise you first what the alternative options might be. Each clinic / hospital is also committed to informing you of their facility charges at your appointment.