What to expect at your appointment

Your health insurance provider may require you to get a referral letter from a GP before granting authorisation for your consultation. Some providers have a private GP service that can help you with this if you struggling to see your own doctor or are pressed for time.

Some medical insurance providers (e.g. BUPA) have a musculoskeletal (MSK) injury pathway and are able to refer you directly to my clinic.

If you are self-paying a GP referral is not imperative but it may have information that may be relevant to your problem and influence how you are managed.

Following your initial consultation, you may need a follow-up appointment to go over the results of any investigations, assess your response to treatment or your stage of recovery.

If you have a new complaint or you are coming back after more than 1 year since your last appointment then please arrange a new appointment.

I consult out of a number of central London and Hertfordshire private hospitals. These include:

The Institute of Sports Exercise and Health (ISEH)
King Edward VII Hospital
Golders Green Outpatient and Diagnostic Centre
Wellington Hospital Outpatient Centre, Elstree

I can also arrange to see you via video if your circumstances prevent you from coming to one of my clinic venues.

Note that the following is for guidance and is subject to change by the local borough. Check local restrictions before leaving your vehicle.

ISEH - There is limited street parking near the clinic but the area is well serviced by public transport links.

King Edward VII - There are several metered street-parking opportunities in the Marylebone area. There are also a number of car parks within walking distance.

Golders Green Outpatient and Diagnostic centre - There is street parking in nearby residential roads with displayed restricted hours.

HCA Elstree Outpatient Centre - Free car parking is available at the clinic.

The referral letter from your GP or other health care professional.
Details of your medical insurance provider and authorisation code.
List of any medication or supplements you take regularly, if not included in the referral letter.
Copies of clinic letters or previous imaging relevant to your current problem.

You are likely to be examined and may be asked to perform actions that require you are able to move freely so, wear loose or easy to remove clothing.

Gowns can be provided if needed and if you wish to have a chaperone please let the nursing staff know on arrival.

A new patient appointment is 30 minutes.
Follow-up appointment 20 minutes.

Procedures, like ultrasound-guided injections, are allocated 30 minutes for completion.

Some cases may require more attention, resulting in a clinic running late. Please understand that in some cases this is unavoidable. Allow yourself enough time for your appointment and any other commitments you may have after.

The availability of investigations varies between diagnostic centres, however, in the majority of cases, investigations can be completed on the same day or soon after a consultation.

If clinically indicated a diagnostic ultrasound scan may be done at the time of your appointment. Please check that you are authorisation allows for this under minor diagnostic procedures, along with blood tests and x-rays.

X-ray - uses low-dose radiation to look at bones and the position of joints. It is good for looking at how joints behave when weight-bearing, and the condition of the joint surface. It is not so good at assessing soft-tissue structures like muscles, ligaments and cartilage.

Diagnostic Ultrasound Scan - You may already have experience with ultrasound scan as it is routinely used to scan pregnant mothers. Ultrasound uses sound waves to create an image to assess soft tissue structures like muscles, ligaments and tendons. There is the added benefit of doing a dynamic assessment (moving the area in real-time) to identify the problem and using it to guide therapeutic injections to their target. Ultrasound is not able to see through bone so it is not ideal for looking inside joints.

MRI scan - Magnetic Resonance Imaging uses a non-ionising (no radiation) to create a highly detailed 3-D image of a body part. It is good for looking at muscles, ligaments, cartilage, bone, blood vessels and nerves. It is very sensitive and can pick up non-clinically relevant findings. This, among many reasons, is why MRI scans are reported by specialist radiologists, which can take a few days for the results to return.
A single body part MRI scan (one knee) can take 30 minutes during which you are placed in a narrow hollow tube. If you get anxious in closed spaces let me or a member of my team know before you arrange your scan appointment.

CT scan - Computed Tomography uses ionising radiation to create a 3-D image of the body. It is used to get highly detailed images of bone and joints to look at fracture patterns, assess bone healing and for planning surgery. CT imaging is also used by radiologists to guide interventions to deeper structures such as when performing spinal injections.

Bone density scan - Also known as a DEXA, or DXA scan, uses very low-dose radiation to measure bone density (typically of the spine and hips) to determine if you have a low bone density (osteopenia) or very low bone mass and density (osteoporosis).

Blood tests - The first presentation of some medical conditions can be with a musculoskeletal/sports injury. Blood tests can check for things that can affect your exercise capacity or predispose you to injury/illness e.g. iron levels, thyroid function and bone profile.

Your results are usually ready a few days after your appointment. Unless you are told otherwise you will be given your results at your follow-up appointment so it is important you arrange this soon after getting your investigations done.

It is not standard practice to send you your results before your follow-up. This is in part to prevent unnecessary anxiety as the findings will need to be interpreted in the context of your presentation.

As a matter of routine, I pass on your results to your GP to keep your medical records complete so it is important you give us their details.