News from Independent Practitioner Today
Go to the archive section to read older stories
GPs' college calls for health bill withdrawal
Posted on: Friday 3rd February 2012
The Royal College of General Practitioners has called for the complete withdrawal of the Health and Social Care Bill.
Seek self-pay shoppers
Posted on: Tuesday 3rd January 2012
Independent practitioners are being urged to launch their own ‘January sales’ drive at GPs to try and tap in to a new breed of self-pay shopper.
New heights
Posted on: Tuesday 3rd January 2012
Consultants from The London Clinic brought their fundraising for charity Prostate Action to a staggering £1.3m with a Himalayan trek.
Diagnostic centre opens
Posted on: Tuesday 3rd January 2012
The £7m first phase of The Harley Street Diagnostic Centre has opened its doors to patients. It will eventually have 60 consulting rooms divided into suites for groups of specialist doctors.
Merit awards hit by tax hike on pensions
Posted on: Monday 2nd January 2012
Consultants have been shocked to find their hard-earned clinical excellence awards (CEAs) could be eroded by a 50% tax hit.
CyberKnife treats 300th patient
Posted on: Tuesday 20th December 2011
The UK’s first robotic CyberKnife radiotherapy machine, at The Harley Street Clinic, central London, has just treated its 300th patient since it was commissioned two years ago.
Taxman plays tough
Posted on: Monday 2nd January 2012
Doctors have been shocked to receive letters from the taxman erroneously claiming they have not filed their tax returns.
Doctors quit early
Posted on: Monday 2nd January 2012
A sharp rise in the number of consultants taking voluntary early retirement in 2011 reflects growing dissatisfaction about changes underway in the NHS, believes the BMA.
Law on jobs to be eased
Posted on: Tuesday 27th December 2011
Doctor employers and their managers will have to swot up on a new raft of employment laws under Government proposals.
VAT attack on vanity ops
Posted on: Friday 30th December 2011
Tax experts are appealing to independent practitioners who could be affected by a VAT attack on cosmetic treatments to get in touch.
Rise in spot checks on clinics
Posted on: Tuesday 27th December 2011
Independent practitioners are facing an increased likelihood of an unannounced inspection in 2012 from the healthcare watchdog the Care Quality Commission.
Doctors urged to check billing
Posted on: Tuesday 3rd January 2012
Independent practitioners are being advised to keep on top of their finances in 2012 by implementing a financial review of their 2011 billing compared to 2010.
Quality mark has new watchdog
Posted on: Friday 30th December 2011
Patients checking out private doctors’ clinics on the voluntary ‘Treatments You Can Trust’ register are expected to be able to have greater confidence in their choice in future.
Spire reveals its PPU plans
Posted on: Monday 2nd January 2012
Investment in NHS private patients units (PPUs) is ‘a very positive step for the UK healthcare system’, according to hospital group Spire Healthcare.
Avant-garde service is a tour de force
Posted on: Monday 2nd January 2012
A new London clinic is offering patients appointments with French as well as English-speaking doctors.
Royal opening
Bupa pledges a boon
Posted on: Tuesday 3rd January 2012
Ten thousand consultants who have now signed up to be Bupa partners are set to see more patients from the insurer.
Call for private sector to pull together
Posted on: Tuesday 3rd January 2012
The boss of the Private Hospitals Alliance (PHA) has called on the private healthcare industry to work together if it wants to secure growth.
PICU marks Portland’s peak
Posted on: Monday 2nd January 2012
London’s Portland Hospital for Women and Children has opened the most up-to-date private paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) in Europe.
Private clinic’s study drive
Posted on: Friday 30th December 2011
The London Clinic has launched an Advanced Therapies Centre to provide ‘innovative treatment choices’ for patients by supporting clinical trials and enabling access to novel therapies.
Fifth of legal cases due to no consent
Posted on: Friday 30th December 2011
Up to 20% of clinical negligence claims in plastic surgery involve, at least in part, allegations relating to consent to treatment, according to the Medical Defence Union (MDU).
Future shape of hospitals
Posted on: Monday 2nd January 2012
Britain is on the cusp of a significant migration of NHS secondary healthcare services which will head out of acute hospitals and into more dispersed community settings, according to research from healthcare market intelligence provider Laing & Buisson.
‘NHS getting too commercialised’
Posted on: Tuesday 27th December 2011
Government guidance on GP commissioning gives commercial firms an in-built advantage and appears to be ‘yet another worrying step towards an NHS focused on commercial priorities’, the BMA’s GP leader claims.
IT system geared to NHS reforms
Posted on: Tuesday 20th December 2011
Eye specialist SpaMedica, Manchester, is the first independent healthcare provider to benefit from a new Choose and Book-compliant patient administration and records system.
Cryotherapy pod now open for the general public
Posted on: Friday 30th December 2011
The UK’s first whole-body medical cryotherapy pod is operating at BMI The Garden Hospital, London, through a joint partnership with specialist provider CryoClinics.
NEWS IN BRIEF (DECEMBER-JANUARY)
First private unit to get Macmillan cancer award
Posted on: Friday 30th December 2011
Spire Hartswood Hospital in Brentwood, Essex, has announced it is the first UK private unit to receive the Macmillan Quality Environment Mark (MQEM) for both its breast care and oncology services.
Skimp on PAs and pay the price
Posted on: Thursday 24th November 2011
Consultants are forfeiting a huge slice of their business potential by directing private patients to phone them at NHS hospitals.
NHS reforms update: latest
Posted on: Wednesday 7th December 2011
ndependent Practitioner Today’s round-up of the developments in early December regarding Government plans to revamp the NHS
Blazing a path ahead
Posted on: Tuesday 15th November 2011
Consultant neuroradiologist Dr Emer MacSweeney and 15 other leading specialists have formed Re:Cognition Health to provide a complete clinical pathway for accurate and rapid assessment, diagnosis and management of all neurological problems.
NHS unit has huge plans
Posted on: Monday 14th November 2011
An NHS hospital trust’s new private unit plans to capture a third of the local independent healthcare market.
Bupa justifies tough stance referral policy...
Posted on: Tuesday 15th November 2011
Bupa has robustly defended plans to launch an open referrals process for its Corporate Select customers in January under which GPs would no longer refer to a named consultant.
...Critics say Bupa's strategy is 'high-risk'
Posted on: Tuesday 15th November 2011
Independent Doctors Federation chairman GP Dr Jack Edmonds said the new process was likely to exclude the best – and thus often the more expensive – specialists. It would break the link between consultant and GP.
NHS reforms update: late November
Posted on: Friday 25th November 2011
Independent Practitioner Today’s round-up of the developments in November regarding Government plans to revamp the NHS
Low earners fuel a rise in self-pay care
Posted on: Monday 14th November 2011
A surge in low income families opting to see private doctors has fuelled a 29% rise in self-pay patients at one of the largest independent hospital groups.
Car tax case drives on
Posted on: Tuesday 15th November 2011
Consultants awaiting the outcome of the ‘mileage tax test case’ (Independent Practitioner Today, June 2011) can expect to wait until at least February for a verdict.
ISTCs have ‘better results’ than NHS
Posted on: Monday 14th November 2011
NHS patients undergoing elective operations in independent sector treatment centres (ISTCs) report better outcomes than those seen by NHS hospitals treating emergency and elective patients, according to a major study.
Doctors sign up to testing appraisals
Posted on: Wednesday 9th November 2011
Private doctors have given their support to the NHS revalidation support team’s pilot phase for independent-sector medical appraisal.
Plastic surgeons told to shun ads inducing surgery
Posted on: Monday 14th November 2011
Members of the British Association for Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons (BAPRAS) have been warned they will be investigated if they get involved in media promotions that induce surgery.
New doctors’ £200k bill for pensions
Posted on: Wednesday 9th November 2011
New consultants face a £200k hike in NHS pension contributions under ‘unjust and misguided’ Government plans for the scheme, the BMA has warned.
Top tax rate ‘damages UK’
Posted on: Wednesday 9th November 2011
The 50p top income tax rate paid by thousands of private doctors is hitting their wealth – and now the country’s health.
Expansive moves
Posted on: Monday 14th November 2011
Holly House Hospital at Buckhurst Hill, Essex, is investing £20m in a new outpatient department, three theatres, physiotherapy department and pathology lab.
Doctors warned to prepare to give staff a pension
Posted on: Monday 14th November 2011
Independent practitioners who employ staff have been warned to gear up to contribute a percentage of employees’ salaries to a pension scheme from next October.
Ingenious solution to phobia of scanners
Posted on: Wednesday 9th November 2011
Bupa Cromwell Hospital has installed an Ingenia 1.5T MRI scanner designed to create a calming atmosphere.
GMC to alter its rules
Posted on: Wednesday 9th November 2011
An updated draft of the GMC’s core guidance Good Medical Practice includes new advice to doctors covering behaviour online and use of social networking sites.
PMI sellers say future is bright
Posted on: Monday 14th November 2011
Private doctors have been handed an upbeat business forecast for the months ahead from the chairman of the Association of Medical Insurance Intermediaries (AMII).
Ensure a quick bill of health
Posted on: Monday 14th November 2011
Consultants have been urged to make sure they get their invoices out promptly.
Want to go up Kilimanjaro?
Posted on: Monday 14th November 2011
Independent practitioners are being invited to sign up for an 11-day expedition to join a team from financial planners Cavendish Medical climbing 19,340 feet-high Mt Kilimanjaro next November.
NEWS IN BRIEF
Posted on: Monday 14th November 2011
Consultants at the London Orthopaedic Clinic have welcomed orthopaedic medicine physician Dr John Outhwaite to join their team at the group’s new Wimpole Street premises.
NHS reforms update: early November
Posted on: Friday 4th November 2011
Independent Practitioner Today’s round-up of the developments in November regarding Government plans to revamp the NHS
Medical indemnity is a minefield, report shows
Posted on: Friday 4th November 2011
Specialists need independent advice before deciding whether to change their medical indemnity provider.
Warning to doctors aiming to retire before April
Posted on: Monday 31st October 2011
Doctors have been advised their retirement applications might not be processed before significant tax reforms come into place in April. This could leave them paying hundreds of thousands of pounds extra in tax and having their retirement plans delayed.
Consultant’s mileage tax test case result
Posted on: Thursday 27th October 2011
Thousands of private doctors claiming mileage between hospitals are awaiting to hear the results of a tax test case heard in court today. Subscribers can find out how the applicant doctor got on in his dispute against HMRC by clicking on the 'more' button
NHS private units set to roll
Posted on: Friday 7th October 2011
Private practice opportunities in the NHS are set to rise as hospital managers in the health service show mounting interest in harnessing the income-generation potential of private patient units.
It’s quins!
Posted on: Friday 7th October 2011
There was a ten-year gestation period, but five consultant obstetricians and gynaecologists have finally given birth to their group partnership billed as a centre of excellence for women’s health.
NHS reforms update: late October
Posted on: Wednesday 26th October 2011
Independent Practitioner Today’s round-up of the developments in late October regarding Government plans to revamp the NHS
Costly indemnity cover ‘bar to trade’
Posted on: Friday 7th October 2011
Rocketing indemnity costs are forcing consultants to give up practice and hampering younger specialists from going private.
Doctors flock together to form groups
Posted on: Friday 7th October 2011
A ‘staggering’ increase in the number of specialists’ groups means they now account for around £1 in every £5 earned by consultants in the private sector.
Reassurance for e-bills
Posted on: Friday 7th October 2011
Healthcode, the company operating the private medical sector’s electronic billing system, is challenging criticism that new online validation processes will prevent quick payment of medical bills submitted electronically.
‘Don’t retaliate to online criticism’
Posted on: Friday 7th October 2011
Doctors are being warned by a defence body to avoid exposing themselves to trouble by posting potentially damaging responses to social media criticism without thinking through the consequences.
Height of fundraising
Posted on: Friday 7th October 2011
Surgeons have made a good recovery after a seven day charity bike ride and climb.
Private GP has many offers
Posted on: Friday 7th October 2011
The boss of a new private GP service has admitted surprise at the number of family doctors interested in joining his growing team.
HMRC warns of tax rebate scam
Posted on: Friday 7th October 2011
Independent practitioners are being warned to beware of falling victim to a tax repayment con.
Umbrella body rebrands
Posted on: Friday 7th October 2011
The H5 Private Hospitals Alliance (known as H5) has changed its name to simply the Private Hospitals Alliance (PHA).
New chief follows a refurb
Posted on: Friday 7th October 2011
The largest private hospital outside of London – BMI The Alexandra – has appointed a new executive director.
‘Don’t compete with NHS’
Posted on: Friday 7th October 2011
Private doctors who seek to collaborate rather than compete with the NHS are the ones whose businesses are likely to do best, according to a leading healthcare banker.
Tougher fines for submitting tax form late
Posted on: Friday 7th October 2011
Medical accountants are warning of tough new HM Revenue and Customs’ self-assessment penalties starting this autumn for late returns and payments.
GPs report more curbs to NHS care
Posted on: Friday 7th October 2011
NHS GPs face increasing restrictions from cash-strapped primary care trusts in helping patients access services.
Accountants ‘can beat taxman’s faults’
Posted on: Friday 7th October 2011
Criticism of HM Revenue and Customs’ service to taxpayers has sparked advice to private doctors to find the best accountant they can afford to deal with their tax affairs.
Drive to sell more private insurance
Posted on: Friday 7th October 2011
The Association of Medical Insurance Intermediaries is behind a new drive to ensure patients take out private health insurance.
Spire acquires health check scanning firm
Posted on: Friday 7th October 2011
Private hospital group Spire Healthcare has acquired Lifescan Ltd, a leading independent provider of CT health checks, in a £1.3m deal.
NHS’s woes spur public to think of private care
Posted on: Friday 7th October 2011
Six in ten people would consider paying to be seen privately if it meant being diagnosed quicker, a survey found.
Red tape ties up private doctors
Posted on: Friday 7th October 2011
A private GP has hit out at the increasing burden placed on independent practitioners by the rising numbers of regulatory bodies.
The London Clinic has a new boss
Posted on: Friday 7th October 2011
Ex-Royal Marines officer Paul Holdom has been appointed chief executive of The London Clinic in succession to Malcolm Miller.
Lister Hospital expands into the community
Posted on: Friday 7th October 2011
Just weeks after expanding services by opening a critical care unit, Chelsea’s Lister Hospital is reaching further into the nearby community.
Cost of university underestimated
Posted on: Friday 7th October 2011
Doctors with children at university could be underestimating the maximum amount of debt their child could leave university with.
Be charitable and cut legacy tax bill
Posted on: Friday 7th October 2011
Private doctors are being advised to use a forthcoming cut in inheritance tax rates as a chance to review their legacy plans.
Jaw op surgeon sets up his base
Posted on: Friday 7th October 2011
Leading jaw reconstruction specialist Mr Robert Hensher is to use King Edward VII Hospital, London, as his exclusive base for performing TMJ replacement surgery.
NHS reforms update: October
Posted on: Wednesday 12th October 2011
Independent Practitioner Today’s round-up of the developments in October regarding Government plans to revamp the NHS
Keep pension from taxman
Posted on: Monday 5th September 2011
Independent practitioners are being urged to safeguard their tax-free pensions under a new protection scheme available this month.
Bupa compromises over knee op forms
Posted on: Friday 2nd September 2011
Bupa has offered consultant orthopaedic surgeons an alternative to filling in knee arthroscopy medical review forms to gain approval to confirm funding eligibility.
Man at the top
Posted on: Monday 5th September 2011
Hospital boss Mr Michael Neeb shunned the lift and donned his tuxedo to abseil 12 floors down the Danubius Hotel in St John’s Wood to raise money for Wellington Hospital’s appeal.
NHS Reform Update: August and September
Posted on: Friday 23rd September 2011
Independent Practitioner Today’s round-up on healthcare competition and what’s been hitting the news since our September edition went to press
A model of collaboration
Posted on: Saturday 3rd September 2011
Consultants are full of praise for The Royal Marsden’s £6m newly renovated private care wing in Chelsea.
BMA steps up fight against pension cuts
Posted on: Monday 5th September 2011
Independent practitioners who face yet another ‘assault’ on their pensions under planned NHS reforms are being urged by the BMA to register their opposition.
Radiotherapy ‘first’ for private hospital
Posted on: Friday 2nd September 2011
A pioneer of Intra-Operative Radiotherapy (IORT), breast surgeon Mr Jayant Vaidya, is introducing it to The Princess Grace Hospital from next month (October).
GMC’s ‘court’ gets ready
Posted on: Saturday 3rd September 2011
The GMC’s new Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service, part of its reforms to the way doctors are challenged about their conduct or ability, will take over the running of hearings from as early as next year.
A levy for private work?
Posted on: Monday 5th September 2011
Doctors in private practice should have their profits capped and repay NHS funds used to train them, according to a survey of patients.
Shun social media contact, says BMA
Posted on: Friday 2nd September 2011
Doctors are being advised by the BMA to reject Facebook requests from current or former patients because of possible problems if the boundaries in the doctor-patient relationship become blurred.
Trade wins
Posted on: Friday 2nd September 2011
Consultant urological surgeon Mr Simon St Clair Carter has picked up a Queen’s Award for Enterprise in the International Trade Category from HM Lord Lieutenant of Greater London, Sir David Brewer.
Patient group’s success
Posted on: Friday 2nd September 2011
Over 2,000 people visited the website of the new platform for private patients within five weeks of its opening.
How patients found their voice in private medicine
Posted on: Friday 2nd September 2011
The Private Patients’ Forum (PPF) was set up in response to a perceived need to help patients of private healthcare to be better informed.
Help to navigate insurance maze
Posted on: Saturday 3rd September 2011
Consultants’ potential private practice patients can now get medical insurance advice from a new website.
Consultants score a success at Villa Park
Posted on: Monday 5th September 2011
The ‘big match’ came to Aston Villa’s stadium Villa Park when a specialists’ team attracted strong support from enthusiastic GPs.
Sloppy ways cost dear
Posted on: Monday 5th September 2011
Failure to make some simple checks is costing consultants thousands of pounds worth in cheques, warn business advisers.
Guide to NHS-funded care in EU countries
Posted on: Friday 2nd September 2011
A new guide to patients’ rights aims to help patients explore treatment options in other EU states, funded by the NHS.
Help to test out medical revalidation
Posted on: Monday 5th September 2011
Private doctors are being invited to register an interest in a pilot scheme with the NHS Revalidation Support Team to test the Medical Appraisal Guide.
Sellers of PMI hail fall in complaints
Posted on: Friday 2nd September 2011
The Association of Medical Insurance Intermediaries has welcomed Financial Ombudsman Service statistics showing under 50 complaints about private medical insurance (PMI) were upheld in this year’s first quarter.
Private healthcare is surviving recession
Posted on: Friday 2nd September 2011
The private healthcare market is forecast to grow by 15.7% between 2011 and 2015, reaching £35.9bn by the end of the forecast period.
MDU analyses causes of ‘wrong site’ ops
Posted on: Friday 2nd September 2011
A total of 63 cases of doctors performing ‘wrong site’ surgery have been notified to the Medical Defence Union (MDU) since 2000.
‘Scanner in a pill’ to probe gut comes to London
Posted on: Friday 2nd September 2011
Doctors at The Princess Grace Hospital are the first in Europe to use the revolutionary SmartPill wireless motility capsule to investigate, evaluate and help with diagnosis of long-term unexplained and frequently painful digestive problems.
New rooms for neurologists
Posted on: Friday 2nd September 2011
A suite of seven new consulting rooms will form part of a ‘one-stop shop’ for neurologists and neurosurgeons in London.
Open scanner for the North
Posted on: Saturday 3rd September 2011
Doctors in the north of England and Scotland can now refer patients to a £700,000 ‘open-sided’ MRI scanner bought by The Newcastle Clinic.
Cromwell gets high-speed CT
Posted on: Friday 2nd September 2011
Bupa Cromwell Hospital, London, has installed a high-definition CT scanner – the Discovery CT750.
Sleep centre for Harley Street
Posted on: Friday 2nd September 2011
A new Harley Street facility is to tackle a range of sleep-related problems.
Unit offers bladder laser for prostate problems
Posted on: Friday 2nd September 2011
King Edward VII Hospital, London, is the first private UK hospital to use the new American Medical Systems Greenlight XPS laser system for treating bladder outflow obstruction or enlarged prostate.
Roodlane to join with HCA
Posted on: Friday 2nd September 2011
Corporate healthcare provider Roodlane Medical in London has announced a merger with HCA.
Couch discount worth examination
Posted on: Friday 2nd September 2011
Couches manufacturer Plinth 2000 is offering private doctors an instant 20% discount on current models in exchange for a tired old treatment table and will waive its usual £50 take-away and scrap charge.
Sterilisation plant boosts op efficiency
Posted on: Saturday 3rd September 2011
Surgeons have welcomed a new £980,000 sterile services department (SSD) at Spire Hartswood Hospital, Essex.
Doctors slam discount ops
Posted on: Thursday 7th July 2011
Plastic surgeons have condemned the marketing of serious medical procedures such as breast augmentation and nose jobs via popular online discount website Groupon.
‘Majority’ filling in Bupa vetting form
Posted on: Friday 8th July 2011
The vast majority of knee consultants are said to be participating in Bupa’s arthroscopy medical review, despite criticism of the scheme from leaders of bodies who represent them.
Tackling unexplained variations
Posted on: Friday 8th July 2011
The rate of knee arthroscopy among our customers is more than double the rate of that in NHS patients, a Bupa medical director points out
Private referrers are ‘stuck in their ways’
Posted on: Thursday 7th July 2011
Independent practitioners may not be offering patients the best referral choices, as most are reluctant to research external medical units, a new study claims.
'TrueBeam' arrives in UK
Posted on: Friday 8th July 2011
HCA Hospitals has claimed a UK first by installing the world’s fastest linear accelerator.
Mileage test case starts...
Posted on: Wednesday 15th June 2011
A consultant physician is set to be at the centre of an all-out assault by the medical profession to win recognition of independent practitioners’ mileage claims.
New quality scheme unmasks poor care
Posted on: Friday 1st April 2011
A catalogue of poor standards has been uncovered in the private injectable industry since last year’s launch of the sector’s ‘Treatments You Can Trust’ patient safety programme.
Critic is persuaded to join
Posted on: Friday 1st April 2011
A surprise member of the 'Treatments You can Trust' governance group is consultant plastic surgeon Mr Nigel Mercer, who has been a big critic of the scheme and initially rejected an invitation to join.
The 2011 Budget and You
Posted on: Thursday 24th March 2011
Independent Practitioner Today’s roundup of what The Chancellor’s red box means to you
Free subscription
Posted on: Wednesday 19th May 2010
New clients of PPM Software are benefiting from a free subscription to Independent Practitioner Today.
Healthcode offers free subscription to IPT
Posted on: Tuesday 23rd March 2010
A free subscription to Independent Practitioner Today is on offer to new subscribers to ePractice manager, Healthcode’s secure practice management software package for independent practitioners.