Springfield Road & Riverdale Surgery's Private Treatment, Referral & Prescribing Policy
*Updated April 2024

We are experiencing an increasing number of requests from Patients wanting private referrals given the extended waiting times to be seen under the NHS. The surgery is able to provide you with a Private referral; but would ask you to read the following information prior to sourcing private care.

What happens next?

You should contact the Consultants team directly to organise an appointment. If you have private health insurance, your insurer may have a list of approved specialists. You may want to check with your insurer before you proceed.

The specialist may request information from your GP. If this is the case, please contact us to ask for a referral letter for the Consultant/Specialty that you have specified. This will include any relevant medical details about you. If an insurance company wishes for a specific form to be completed please ask them to make contact with us and we will deal with their request for information.

Seeing the Consultant:

What happens if you need a test or procedure?

If the Consultant thinks that you need any tests (including blood tests), or a surgical procedure, the Consultant is responsible for:

• Arranging the test and any medications (such as sedation) that might be needed for this. They should also explain how and when you will receive a date of any procedure and what to do if the date is not suitable for you.
• Giving you the results and explaining what they mean (this may be done in a separate appointment with the Consultant or by letter). You should not visit your GP surgery to discuss the results of tests organised by others, it is the Consultants responsibility to discuss this with you

Please note that any tests required should be carried out privately; and are likely to incur a cost.

GP practices cannot perform blood tests or other private investigations using NHS resources. Doing so would inappropriately use NHS resources to carry out private activity. If a private Consultant informs you to arrange or to expect to hear from your NHS GP to arrange such tests, then this is incorrect.

Requests for private diagnostic testing (i.e. X-Ray, MRI, CT)?

We can provide private referrals for diagnostic testing. However, we would always recommend doing this via a Consultant who is best positioned to interpret the results and arrange follow up care.

What happens if you need new medicines?

The Consultant might suggest prescribing new medicines for you or might want to make changes to the medicines that you are already taking.

The Consultant is responsible for giving you a prescription for any new medicine that you need; this is a private prescription and you should be aware that it will incur a cost for the medication.

 The Surgery review each request individually and may consider prescribing, as long as:

• The medication being requested is already on the NI Formulary
• The Consultant has provided the surgery with sufficient information about your medical condition to support the prescribing of the medication.
• The medication being requested is licensed for the condition being managed
• The surgery has a means of communicating with the Consultant who has made the recommendation
• The medication does not require consultant oversight (and you are not under NHS care). These drugs are commonly known as “Amber list “or “Shared Care” drugs. We cannot prescribe drugs that are classed as “Red List” (Hospital only) drugs.
• The medication being requested does not require regular blood monitoring

What happens if I need to transfer my care back to the NHS?

If after seeing the Consultant privately you want to be back under NHS care, regulations allow for you to transfer back. This transfer must be done by the private Consultant who is overseeing your care and you should not be passed back to the GP for this to be done.    

There are a few reasons why:

• It delays your ongoing care
• Your Consultant knows the full details of your condition and where best to refer you to
• It wastes precious NHS appointments with your GP and adds unnecessary administration to the process

The consultant should arrange for you to be seen in the appropriate NHS clinic by writing a referral letter to this clinic.

What if I need a follow-up appointment?

The Consultant will discuss with you whether you should attend hospital for ongoing follow-up care or whether you should be discharged back to your GP. 

If the Consultant thinks you do need to be seen again, the private clinic will give you another appointment or tell you when to expect this. If you do not hear anything, please contact the Clinic office, rather than your GP surgery.

Bariatric Surgery in the private sector?

Unfortunately, bariatric surgery is not a commissioned service in Northern Ireland. Patients who chose to pursue this type of treatment must be aware that all pre and post treatment costs will remain within the private sector and will be chargeable (this includes ongoing blood monitoring required). 

We would caution patients from sourcing bariatric treatment outside of the UK/Ireland as follow up care will be logistically difficult and language barriers may delay urgent follow up. 

We are unable to provide any advice, medication, blood monitoring or follow up diagnostic tests should you chose to proceed with private bariatric treatment privately.