With the current wait for NHS services the use of private services has increased in recent years and this has caused interface issues which GP’s are not used to dealing with.
Patients are entitled to supplement their NHS care with private healthcare and are still entitled to the same NHS services.
Requests from private providers should in general be treated in the same way as a request from an NHS provider.
However, private providers may well provide services which are not available on the NHS and therefore care must be taken to ensure the service is something which is provided on the NHS and something they are entitled to.
Referrals
Patients are entitled to referrals to NHS providers. This is not something you can charge for.
If the patient sees a private specialist and wishes to be referred back into NHS care the private specialist can do this direct to the NHS specialist. This does not need to go via the GP
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