Independent Practitioner Today

‘I’m ready to pay you, so why won’t you treat me?’ Have you ever struggled to know when to refuse a client treatment? Dr Sharan Uppal, aesthetic clinician, shares her thoughts and experiences. ‘Why won’t you treat me?’ I had this question put to me by a client when I advised him that I would […]

With careful planning, you can get the best advice – and keep your legal bills down to a minimum. Lynne Abbess shows how. Every business, no matter how large or how small, leaves a ‘legal footprint’ – so if you operate without any legal advice at all, you do so at your peril. It is […]

With 6.9m people – over 10% of the UK population – covered,* private medical insurance is a strong source of income for most consultants in private practice. Knowing the standard features of policies is vital for new independent practitioners wanting to make it work for them, says Dr Tim Woodman. Understanding health insur­ance can be […]

Under the terms of the GMC’s Good Medical Practice 2013, every practising doctor must have adequate indemnity for the full scope of their practice. Dr Karen Ellison discusses some common misunderstandings and how to ensure you have adequate protection for both your professional and clinical practice. Indemnity can be defined as ‘security or protection against […]

Could you predict your life expectancy? Dr Benjamin Holdsworth gives advice on preparing for a 40-year retirement. According to Aubrey de Grey, a biomedical gerontologist – or life extension expert – the first person to live to be 1,000 years old is alive today. Reading this statement two years ago prompted Dr David Goldhill, former […]

Ian Tongue explores some of the concepts and factors to consider around capital allowances. When incurring expenses for running your private practice, some costs will derive benefits over many years and these costs are generally referred to as capital expenditure. Capital expenditure is not deducted directly against your private practice income for accounting purposes and […]

Self-pay patients account for nearly 50% of our billing now due to the shift to patients using private healthcare as a ‘pay-a-you-go service’ – and sparking a rise in consultants’ shortfalls. Findlay Fyfe shows you how to deal with it. The big swing to self-pay continues and consultants need to be on top of the […]

‘Doctor on the Road': Volvo S90 Hybrid City-based independent practitioners are best-placed for this smart looker, says our motoring correspondent Dr Tony Rimmer. When the writing is on the wall, we all do well to take notice. In private practice, when certain interventions or procedures become superseded by more modern practice, we stop offering them […]

Along with many other businesses, a number of consultants have been involved in HM Revenue and Customs tax inquiries in recent years. Susan Hutter explains how to keep on the right side of the taxman, and, in the event of an inquiry, gives some tips on how this should be handled. It is obviously far […]

‘Business Dilemmas’ A consultant seeks help when there is a clash between a patient’s religious beliefs and treatment. Dr Kathryn Leask gives her view         Dilemma 1 Should we delay this operation? Q I am an anaesthetist working in private practice. I have just reviewed the records of the first patient on […]