Independent Practitioner Today

Consultant cardiologist Dr Dinos Missouris describes how outsourcing helped him to ensure that his growing practice was in good financial health. A lot of my time and energy since starting in private practice in 2001 has been focused on growing my private practice and developing my reputation.  As my practice grew, the increased workflow put […]

Data transparency is transforming the consultant’s environment in private healthcare – but more still needs to be done, says David Hare. Transparency is rightly viewed as one of the most powerful drivers in improving the quality of healthcare. It is key to ensuring patients can make the right choices for them.  The independent sector has […]

Markets are meant to fall, says Dr Benjamin Holdsworth, but can you keep the falls in perspective? Last year may have been a disappointing year for equities – but it shouldn’t have been a surprise.  December 2018 dished up a rather distasteful present for the holiday period. Many lines were written in the broadsheets about […]

Your home Your home – or ‘main residence’ as the taxman lies to call it – is usually easy to determine. But, for some, this can be more difficult and time limits do exist if you want to elect for a particular property to be your home if you have more than one. This distinction […]

If you are working as a medical expert witness, then there are a host of things that can trip you up.  Here’s 20 to watch out for – outlined to over 100 consultants and GPs at this year’s annual BMA’s medico-legal conference by Augustus Ullstein QC. Things can – and have – gone horribly wrong […]

Alarm bells are ringing over the state of independent ambulance services, following a Care Quality Commission investigation. Sally Taber, director of the Independent Sector Complaints Adjudication Service (ISCAS), puts the spotlight on the problems and gives a check list for ambulance service purchasers to get a safe service for their patients. Many smaller healthcare enterprises, […]

‘Business Dilemmas’ Dr Kathryn Leask advises what to do before ending a professional relation­ship with a patient           Dilemma 1 Can I take father off practice list? Q I have been seeing a family with two children who have been my patients for the last couple of years. The father has […]

Following his review of London’s private patient units last month, Philip Housden turns his spotlight onto England’s southern home counties. Our last issue analysed private patient revenue growth for the greater London NHS trusts. This was the first in our revolving series reviewing the NHS PPU sector across all regions of England. This month, it is […]

‘Doctor on the Road’: Skoda Kodiaq For independent practitioners with a growing family, the petrol Kodiaq offers a fantastic package and is great value. Our motoring correspondent Dr Tony Rimmer reports. For doctors, just like car manufacturers, past negative reports can take years to shake off and regaining patient trust can be a challenge. In the car […]

By Martha Walker Although the healthcare inspection watchdog says many private doctors and clinics provide safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led services, the regulator also has strong concerns – highlighted in Independent Practitioner Today’s story last month. Prof Ursula Gallagher, lead inspector for independent doctors and deputy chief inspector of primary medical services at the […]