TERMS & CONDITIONS

What you can expect at your initial consultation

The consultation will consist of an assessment (which may take up to 2 separate sessions), a diagnosis and treatment recommendations, followed by a letter to your referring doctor where appropriate.

 

Fees & charges

Dr Guruswamy accepts patients who self-fund, as well as those covered by healthcare insurance. She is accredited by all the major UK healthcare insurers (BUPA, AXA PPP, Cigna, Vitality, AVIVA, Simply Health and WPA).

 

Dr Guruswamy’s fees are in line with other London psychiatrists:

Initial assessment (1hr): £600

Standard 30 minute follow-up appointments: £300

One Hour follow-up appointments: £600

Prescription outside consultation: £50

Sick Notes outside consultation: £30

To Whom It May Concern Letters: £50

Medical reports (prepayment required depending on complexity): £600 per hour

Domiciliary assessment: £600 per hour (travel time is also charged at the hourly rate)

 

Please note that Dr Guruswamy requires you to settle your fees in full either prior to, or on the day of your appointment. A credit card number is required to secure a booking and you will be charged after your appointment using the card details. All outstanding balances including insurance excess fees must be cleared before a new appointment can be booked.

 

Self-Funders

For self-funding patients, Dr Guruswamy requires you to settle her fee in full for every clinic appointment prior to your appointment and a minimum of 24 hours before the appointment otherwise it will be cancelled.

 

What to do if you have medical insurance

If you wish to claim through a Health Insurer, please contact your provider prior to your appointment to obtain authorisation for the appointment and to establish the level of your cover, including any excess fee, which may be charged. Dr Guruswamy will require this information in advance of your appointment. Otherwise, on the day of your appointment you may be asked to pay for the consultation in full upon which you will be issued with a receipt. It is this receipt that you need to reclaim the fees from your insurer. Subsequent fees will generally be invoiced directly to your insurance company, once you have given Dr Guruswamy’s PA full insurance details. For the avoidance of doubt, Dr Guruswamy’ contract is with you and not your insurance provider. The fees are ultimately your responsibility and Dr Guruswamy cannot get involved in correspondence with your insurance provider on your behalf about fees. It is your responsibility to inform us of any changes in your insurance status. You will be expected to cover invoices not paid by your insurance within 14 days of the invoice date otherwise your account will be passed to our Debt Collectors. Please note that some insurers require a written referral letter from your GP in order for you to make a claim. Dr Guruswamy may be required to provide a short report or complete a claim form for your insurer and will happily do so for no extra charge. Whilst we accept insurers we do not accept retrospective insurance details. If you start as self funding, we will only start invoicing your insurance from the time you give us your insurance details.

 

Excess Fees and Non Payment

A credit card number is required to secure a booking. All outstanding balances including insurance excess fees must be cleared before a new appointment can be booked. Card details will automatically be charged for all non payments. Some insurance policies have an excess fee on their plan, you will be required to settle this as per the protocol for self-funding patients. Excess fees will be automatically billed as per self-funding patients, using saved credit/debit card details taken at initial appointment booking.

 

Outstanding Debt

Failure to make payment within 28 days of the due date may result in the matter being referred to P&J Debt Collection Services whose charges of up to 25% of the outstanding debt will be added to and payable with the invoice debt.

 

Cancellation policy

A missed appointment means a lost opportunity to offer someone else an earlier appointment. A late cancelled appointment makes it difficult to make the necessary arrangements with other patients to attend at very short notice. Dr Guruswamy therefore requires you to give at least 2 clear working days’ notice if you wish to cancel or change your appointment otherwise you will be charged for the missed appointment (unless the vacated slot can be filled). Please note that most health insurance companies will not generally cover the cancellation fee and you will be liable for this. Dr Guruswamy makes every effort to be punctual but may occasionally be delayed in consultations. If this occurs prior to your appointment, she will ensure you get your full appointment time but if you leave before waiting for 30 minutes, the full charge for the consultation will be payable by you.

 

Telephone enquiries

Patients may from time to time wish to consult with Dr Guruswamy by telephone to discuss matters arising from medication or changes in

circumstances. Unless there is an emergency, this is not usually possible: Dr Guruswamy may not have access to your notes at the time and she will most likely be busy in clinics. It is therefore recommended that you book an appointment. For anything other than a very brief telephone exchange (less than 5 mins), patients will be billed for the cost of a 30-minute consultation.

 

E-mail enquiries

The GMC have issued advice to clinicians regarding the use of emails and their security. Please note that emails are not a secure method of

communication and should not be used for urgent, complex or sensitive issues. Should you choose to email Dr Guruswamy, please be aware that it may not be possible for her to read emails prior to the consultation and that it may be necessary to book a consultation with her to discuss any reply.

 

Private Prescriptions

Dr Guruswamy is able to issue prescriptions for medication during your consultation without charge. However, if a request for a repeat

prescription is made at a time other than during a consultation, a £50 fee will be charged for Dr Guruswamy' time and the administrative

costs involved. You will be charged separately by the chemist for the cost of the medication prescribed.

 

Dr Guruswamy is happy to write to your NHS General Practitioner to request he/she takes over the prescribing of your medication should you so wish. There are a small number of new medications, which NHS GP’s are reluctant to prescribe and therefore may need to continue to be prescribed by Dr Guruswamy. Please note that Dr Guruswamy is only able to issue prescriptions for controlled drugs for a 28-day period.

 

Information sharing

Your non-clinical details (name, address, and date of birth) will be stored in a secure database for administrative and accounting purposes. Your clinical details will be stored in a secure database for access by Dr Guruswamy. A letter will be sent to your GP to keep them appraised of your treatment each time you are seen as per good practice guidelines. Should you give consent, your clinical data will only be shared with other clinicians, usually therapists, involved in your care.

 

Information Requests

Should you request a copy of your clinical file, Dr Guruswamy can arrange to provide this to you in line with the guidance form the

information commissioner’s office regarding “subject access requests”. There is a nominal administrative fee of £10 for copies held electronically that may be requested if a patient sends the request on email/ in writing.

 

DISCLAIMER

In keeping with General Medical Council Guidelines, once a doctorpatient relationship has been established following initial consultation

and agreement of a management plan, Dr Guruswamy will endeavour to provide an appropriate level of psychiatric care for you. She would

expect to meet you for regular reviews, the frequency of which will depend on individual circumstances, including severity of your symptoms. If you have not attended for over 6 months, without prior arrangement, then you will be considered as having self-discharged from Dr Guruswamy’s care, back to that of your GP. Should you wish to resume treatment at a later date an hour-long consultation would be required, in order to obtain a thorough update.