Visiting London
Medical care while you are staying in a London hotel
If you are unwell in a London hotel, the first thing to establish is whether the problem needs emergency care. Where it does not, a private appointment can be at your hotel, at a clinic or by telephone or video, and which of those is appropriate depends on clinical suitability as well as on what suits you.
Contents
If this could be an emergency
Consider this before arranging anything private. NHS guidance on when to call 999 explains that 999 is for life-threatening emergencies. If you need medical help now and are unsure which service to use, NHS 111 can tell you what to do.
A private visit is not an emergency service, and nobody should wait for one when emergency care is what is needed.
Which appointment fits the problem
There are three ways to be seen. A doctor can come to you, at your home or hotel in Zone 1, central London. You can go to a clinic instead. Or the consultation can be held by telephone or video.
Which of the three you get is not only a matter of preference. A clinician reviews every enquiry before a visit is arranged and decides what is clinically suitable; where you are and what is available at the time bear on it too. So describe the problem when you call, as well as the appointment you would prefer: the clinician needs the first in order to advise on the second, and you may be offered something other than what you asked for.
A visit costs £450 on a weekday between 08:00 and 20:00, or £550 in the evening and at weekends, and that covers up to an hour with the doctor. Clinic fees are confirmed when you book. Laboratory work, medication and infusions are quoted separately, before anything is arranged. Our published consultation fees page sets out the consultation fees and explains what is charged on top.
If the hotel or someone else calls for you
You do not have to make the call yourself. With your consent, a concierge, a duty manager, an assistant or a family member can make the enquiry for you.
What they are told is limited to what they need. The hotel gets what it takes for the doctor to reach you and nothing clinical, unless you ask us to share it. The consultation itself is between you and the doctor, and before anything about your care is discussed with anyone else, your consent is confirmed with you directly. Hotel and concierge teams can read how those arrangements work.
What to have ready
Have these four things to hand before the doctor arrives:
- your current medicines, with the packaging or a photograph of it
- any allergies
- relevant medical history
- recent letters or test results, if you have them with you
If the question is about medication, including something you have run out of, private prescriptions sets out what the doctor needs before a decision.
Results and follow-up after you leave London
Before the appointment ends, settle three things: how any results will reach you, who to contact about them, and what happens if you have left the UK by the time they arrive. Every visit comes with a written consultation summary, which is yours to keep. It lists medicines by their generic names, so a doctor in another country can read it without difficulty.
Once you have left the UK we can still discuss results and answer questions by telephone or video consultation. What we cannot do is prescribe for you or manage your care abroad. If a sample was taken during your stay, following up blood test results covers what to ask next.
Common questions
Do I need to be registered with a UK GP to be seen at my hotel?
No. Overseas visitors are welcome, a one-off appointment needs no registration, and it is charged as you go. It does not replace being registered with a doctor where you live.
Can medication be delivered to my hotel?
Yes, if the doctor issues a private prescription at your appointment. Omniya’s own pharmacy dispenses it and can bring it to the hotel, and you are told the delivery charge at the time.
Sources
Author and clinical reviewer
