Non-NHS Services

Dollar Health Centre has a contract with NHS Forth Valley to provide a comprehensive range of NHS services.   Sometimes patients request examinations or reports that are not covered by the NHS.   Where possible, the doctors at the health centre will undertake this work for our registered patients on a fee-based service.   Fees depend on the amount of time and clinical input involved, but are generally £25 for each unit of 15 minutes.

Examples of chargeable services include:

• pre-employment medicals
• firearms application forms
• private medicals
• insurance claim forms
• private medical certificates
• fitness to drive/fitness to travel certificates
• holiday cancellation certificates.

This list is not exhaustive and charges for non-NHS work must be paid for either in advance or at the time of collection where the fee is the responsibility of the patient. If a fee for an insurance report or solicitors report requires payment, patients should note that the practice will not release reports to these companies, unless there are exceptional circumstances, until fees are paid.

Fees for non-NHS services are advertised in the practice. If you have any queries about fees or any other private medical services please discuss them with the receptionist or the practice manager.

Guide to safely seeking private medical care

We understand that some patients may wish to seek private treatment. There has been a recent increase in the number of private clinics available, and we would like to provide you with some points to consider to keep you safe.

If you are considering seeking private treatment, we would recommend you book an appointment with the GP to discuss your concerns first. We can help talk you through the available NHS and private options to guide you on making your decision on what is right for you.

When you contact private providers we recommend you:

• Check with your insurance provider which private specialist they recommend
• If you do not have private insurance there is an option to pay upfront for private care, and you should contact the private provider for a quote.
• Check with the clinic, what treatment is offered, including prescriptions and follow-up. Please check whether you can financially cover all the follow-up, to avoid disappointment and risk to your health, as this may not be available on the NHS.
• Ask them if you need a referral from your GP and we are happy to help with this.

Please check the clinic you are planning to go to is regulated by Health Improvement Scotland (HIS) on the HIS website. This will ensure that you are visiting dependable clinic.

Please ask your private clinic to inform us of any treatment you have had and we can keep this within your medical records. They can email this information to us by using practice email fv.DollarHC@nhs.scot

Policy on private requests

According to the NHS guidance and principles, there should be a clear separation between private and NHS care. The patient should bear the full costs of any private services, and the NHS should not subsidise private care with public money.

We do not engage with 'Shared Care Agreements' with private providers (such as providing ongoing prescriptions or monitoring of bloods) as we do not have the approval or funding from the NHS to support this, and we are unable to provide this service privately as NHS GPs.

Private providers have a responsibility to refer you to appropriate specialists when required and reputable private providers will refer you into NHS hospital specialists without the need for you to visit/contact your GP.