Consultations and treatment during the Covid-19 pandemic

In the private sector, both face-to-face and on-line consultations are available. Many of the private hospitals outside central London are maintaining ‘Covid-free’, ‘Green Pathways’ so that urgent planned operations can continue for NHS and private patients. In central London, some of the private hospitals are providing help for the NHS and are also maintaining out-patient services and ‘Covid-free’, ‘Green Pathway’, planned surgery for private patients who wish to be treated.

With the recent arrival of the COVID-19 vaccines, a new factor you to consider is the possibility of delaying your investigations and treatment until you have had your COVID-19 vaccination.  The government has started a nationwide vaccination programme that will continue through the remainder of the winter and into the spring and early summer.  If you are over eighty and have been offered a date for vaccination, it may be wisest to delay any non-urgent investigations or operations until you have had your vaccination.  If you are not high priority for vaccination but are experiencing difficulty with activities of daily living, your GP may be able to help prioritise your vaccination to minimise the delay before investigations and surgery can be undertaken.   If your symptoms are relatively mild and not causing significant interference to your activities of daily living, waiting for your vaccination may be a sensible option. If you feel that you do need to go ahead with investigations and treatment, you should be reassured to know that that many thousands of patients have been treated safely using the isolation protocols and ‘COVID-19 free’, ‘Green Pathways’ that have been developed through 2020. However, if you choose to continue your investigations and treatment you must adhere to the prescribed isolation protocols that have been developed to protect you.