Funding Your Treatment
There are two main ways of funding your treatment Self-Paying and Private Health Insurance.
Self-Paying And Overseas Patients
Many people decide to consult us about their knee problems. If you are self funding then you do not require a General Practitioner referral (although we recommend you still do this to potentially avoid an unnecessary visit) and can organise an appointment directly.
You will be given a quote for the consultation but there may be investigations that are recommended during your assessment (x-rays, scans, injections) that are not included in the quote.
If further treatments are recommended including surgical procedures you will again be given a further quote. This will include surgical fees. Separate quotes will be provided for anaesthetic fees as well as hospital costs. For regular procedures the hospital may be able to provide an inclusive package. The hospital also has the ability to help you finance your treatment.
Private Health Insurance
The majority of health insurance policies require patients to be referred to a specialist via their local GP.
All the major UK health Insurance companies including BUPA, AXA PP, AVIVA, and WPA recognize our consultants.
The fees for consultations and procedures vary between our consultants. Different insurance companies cover patients different amounts for consultations and treatments. Some Insurance companies may encourage you to visit other general orthopaedic surgeons that adhere to their fee schedule . If you would prefer to visit one of our surgeons please request this. You will be given a quote prior to seeing one of our team; there may be a shortfall in the cover your policy provides.
Leaflet summarising medical fees in the private sector:
Medical Fees in the Private Sector.
Information for private patients concerning fee schedules and much more can be found on the federation of independent practitioners website:
Prior to any surgical treatments you will be given a quote for the proposed procedure. This quote will only apply to the surgical fee; it will not include anaesthetic costs, hospital stay, radiology, physiotherapy and follow-up consultations. Quotes for these will be provided separately.
The majority of Insurance companies will require a copy of this quote prior to authorizing funding for your treatment.
Patients should be aware that currently most health insurance policies involve an excess that the patient is obliged to cover. Details of this can be found on your health insurance policy document.
Some Insurance companies/policies will only allow patients to see certain surgeons despite a patients wishes to see a particular specialist following recommendations from their GP/ previous patients/ independent research.These surgeons may not even have a particular specialist interest in knees. If you are having problems because of this please contact us directly for advice.