Preparing For Clinic

Our obligation to you: 

We are legally obliged to inform you of our fees prior to your appointment.  Please review the information provided in the Fees section of this website for this information.

Your preparations for clinic:

1) Insurance policy holders

If you have a private medical insurance policy, you should contact your insurers before to your appointment to check the terms of your policy.  Different policies have different levels of outpatient cover.  Many people select a policy with an excess.  Such policies require you to pay for the first part of your treatment charges before the insurance policy takes over.  There can also be reimbursement limits on how much the insurance company will cover of your consultation fees.  It is important that you have this information prior to your appointment and that you know whether you may need to pay any shortfall yourself.  If you have any concerns on this this front, please call your consultant’s secretary for further guidance.

If you do have private medical insurance your insurance company will provide you with an authorisation code.  You should let us know the name of your insurer, the membership number of your policy and the authorisation code in advance of your appointment so that, when appropriate, we can submit our bills to your insurance company rather than to you. Please also bring this information when you attend your appointment so that the clinic can ensure that their bills for blood test, imaging studies and other investigations are sent directly to your insurers.

2) Imaging studies

After taking you history and examining you, the first investigation that a hip surgeon will request is x-rays of your hip.  These should be front-on and side-on views of the joint.  If you have had such x-rays taken in the last few months, please let your Consultant’s secretary know before your appointment.  These studies can usually be transferred electronically between hospitals and can be obtained in readiness for your appointment.  Likewise, if you have had previous x-rays or other imaging studies, at other hospitals, these can also be useful.  You will need to tell your Consultant’s secretary where the studies were undertaken so that they can be requested.   It generally takes 24-48 hours to obtain imaging studies from other hospitals so please provide this information well in advance of your first appointment.  It is also helpful if you can bring any discs or x-ray films as a back-up in case we are unable to obtain your imaging studies.

If you have not had any recent x-rays of your hip, we like to obtain these before you see your Consultant. Please let the Consultant’s secretary know which hip is causing you problems so that a request form can be prepared prior to your appointment. Please also let us know if you have concerns about any of your other joints.  When we arrange for x-rays on the day of your appointment, you will need to arrive at least half an hour before your appointment with your consultant so that the x-rays can be obtained without delaying your appointment.