Terms and Conditions of Treatment

For the avoidance of any misunderstanding, it is helpful to have terms and conditions of appointments clearly stated at the outset. If you have any queries please do not hesitate to discuss them in advance or at the appointment. This is Dr Woolley's contract with patients. You are deemed to have accepted these terms and conditions if you proceed with booking an appointment. All treatment is given in good faith, and according to current best practice guidelines wherever possible. However, the effectiveness of any suggested treatment is also crucially dependent on you. Clearly you must reply honestly when asked for information and you must not withhold information even if you are not sure whether it may be relevant.


Appointment fees (as of 1st October 2009)

Initial consultation
£300 (approx 60 minutes)

Follow-up consultations
£300 (approx 60 minutes)
£150 (approx 30 minutes)

Fees are reviewed annually and it is the patient's responsibility to ensure that they are aware of the correct fee. Current fees can be checked either via the secretary or on this web page which will be updated as appropriate. Fees will not change by more than 10% in any one year.

Medical reports
There is a standard fee of £150 for the completion of any medical reports or forms sent from a patient's insurers, employer or other party. This is usually paid by the organisation requesting the report but if not then the patient will be liable. However, Dr Woolley will not proceed with completing the report or incurring costs for the patient until it has been confirmed that they are happy with this arrangement. If the extant of a requested report appears as if it will require extra time or other resources then Dr Woolley will check this with the person requesting the report before proceeding to complete the additional work and billing accordingly.

Payments
If appointments are covered by health insurance, then Dr Woolley can claim the fees directly from your insurer, but only if you bring your insurance membership number and pre-authorisation number along to the appointment. He is recognised by all the major health insurers and it is a common condition of most policies that you must call them in advance of coming for the appointment to gain their authorisation to proceed - this is when they issue you with a pre-authorisation number. If you are not able to provide this number at the appointment, you will need to pay directly on the day of the appointment and then claim this back from your insurer yourself. A receipt can be provided to assist you with this. Your insurance policy may also be subject to an excess (eg the first £50-100 on any claim), which you will need to be prepared to pay yourself on the day of the appointment.

Payment can be made in person or over the phone to Dr Woolley's secretary (Visa debit and credit, Maestro, Mastercard - not Amex), or online via the payment page on this website (secure link to PayPal - accepts many types of card payment). Cash and cheques (payable to Dr James Woolley) are also accepted.

All outstanding balances must be paid before follow-up appointments are booked.

Internet and telephone consultations and written/email advice charges
Telephone, email, instant messaging (IM) or videolink consultations are available at the rates below by prior arrangement. Such advice sought between booked consultations is chargeable at the same hourly rate as for face-to-face consultations (ie £300 per hour, charged at 5 minute intervals of £25 per 5 mins)

For the avoidance of doubt, telephone, email, IM, and videolink fees apply for all correspondence with Dr Woolley.

Prescription fees
If a prescription is issued within an appointment then there is no additional fee. However, if a prescription request is made at other times a fee of £20 per prescription may be made.

Sickness certificates
No fee is payable for medical sickness certificates issued for statutory purposes (eg confirming a period of sick leave for an employer to claim sickness benefits etc). Please note it is a legal requirement that we must have had an appointment within 24 hours of the date on medical sickness certificates.

Medical investigations
These may be suggested on occasion (eg blood tests, heart tracing etc) and Dr Woolley will discuss the costs of each. Often there is a range of possibilities and venues to choose from with different costs and methods of payment so this will be individually discussed and agreed before proceeding.

Court reports
Please contact Dr Woolley for an individual quote based on the needs and complexity of the case.

Cancellation / changes to appointments
Dr Woolley operates a strict 1 working day notice policy for all cancellations and changes to appointments. He recognises that flexibility is important and will try to accommodate requests to reschedule appointments wherever possible. However costs may be incurred with short notice changes, so for appointments that are cancelled or postponed with less than one working day notice, a cancellation fee of £100 will have to be charged. Cancellations and changes must be discussed directly with Dr Woolley's secretary via telephone conversation or email, or amended via the online booking facility. Please note that health insurance companies do not usually cover paying any cancellation fees so even with a valid insurance policy in place you will be liable to pay any cancellation fee incurred personally. For the avoidance of doubt, if the appointment was booked less than one working day before the appointment time, the full fee for the consultation will be charged if the appointment is subsequently cancelled. On occasion Dr Woolley may be delayed whilst in consultation with other patients and requests your understanding if this delays the start of your appointment. In the instance that you depart before waiting 30 minutes, the full fee for the session will be payable.

To avoid any misunderstandings it is in the best interests of us all that terms are as transparent as possible at the outset so please do not hesitate to get in touch if you have any queries.


Disclaimer

Whilst every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information on this site, the author and web hosting service cannot accept any responsibility for any loss and/or liability of any kind whatsoever incurred by the users or by any other person arising out of the use of information held on this site.

Please note that any medical information contained within this site is not intended as a substitute for consultation with a professional physician. The content provided in this website is for information purposes only and is in no way intended as a substitute for treatment. Links to other sites are included for information only and do not necessarily reflect the opinion or endorsement of the author. If you have any questions about your condition or its treatment, please consult your doctor.