Anglim Private Health is a private GP surgery in Bury St Edmunds. We aim to make it easy to book face to face appointments and have appointments available at convenient times including early, late and weekend appointments.
In today’s article we highlight different ways you can access our service at Anglim Private Health.
Who can access appointments?
Almost everyone can access appointments at Anglim Private Health. You do not need to register with us in advance or live in any particular area. We cover all age groups and can provide General Practice care to anyone who wants to access it. The only restrictions are:
- We cannot provide care to professional sportspeople, our insurance company sets that rule.
- We cannot provide care to patients of Hadleigh Boxford Group Practice, where Dr Anglim works as an NHS GP. NHS guidelines quite reasonably say you cannot give private sector care as a GP, to patients who you are currently seeing for NHS care.
- We do not prescribe specifically for addiction. That requires a specialist service and we would be happy to look after your General Practice needs and refer you on to see a specialist if needed.
- And most importantly we cannot provide emergency care, so if you are having an emergency, like a stroke or heart attack, you should call 999 in the normal way.
How much will it cost?
The full run down of prices are on the prices page of our website.
Booking an appointment with a private GP Dr Anglim costs £130. There is an extra charge for prescribing, writing a referral and organising tests such as blood tests and ECGs. Blood test prices depend on exactly the tests being requested, but any blood test costs will be discussed at the time before the test is processed.
Prescriptions are private so the pharmacy will charge for the prescription irrespective of age. As pharmacies are free to set their prices as they see fit, different pharmacies may charge differently for the same prescription. It can be difficult to work out the costs of medications, for example the same medication as a tablet or capsule can be priced very differently, so Dr Anglim will try to give you an indication of the price that might be charged.
Are there any more cost effective options?
For many, becoming a member at Anglim Private Health will cost less than paying for individual appointments. This is certainly the case for someone who wants to see us regularly for follow up care or someone who needs to access prescription referrals and appointments a number of times a year.
The cost of membership varies depending on your age and how many in your household are becoming a member. It starts from £100 per month for an individual under the age of 60 or £220 per month for a family of four. For that, you will have unlimited appointments with a GP, which can be booked easily online or over the phone. And there is no extra charge for writing prescriptions and referrals. You will still need to pay extra for special tests or procedures, like an ECG or joint injection. And medications are still private prescriptions.
Are there any other benefits for members?
We believe being a member at Anglim Private Health is all about getting the care you need as conveniently as possible and our membership service is designed around that. If you have quick tasks or questions, like you have suddenly realised you are out of a repeat medication or need another printout of your recent blood tests, you will have access to our instant WhatsApp messenger service so you can organise that without having to go through the process of booking an appointment at all.
You also have the ability to call Dr Anglim directly, both during routine opening times and out of hours. Many times you might get through to him directly to discuss your issue. At other times you can leave a message and you will be contacted when he is next able to do so.
Finally as a member you will have our appointment available guarantee. That is that if you contact us during our core operating times and there are no standard appointments available, an appointment slot will be created for you, even if it means extending past our closing time. This means you will have peace of mind of knowing that you are always able to access an appointment when you need one. Dr Anglim will whenever possible extend that to your visiting friends and family, with a higher appointment charge for added out of hours appointments.
Is there a minimum commitment?
No, members can end their membership whenever they choose to do so. If you are in the middle of a membership month, there is no pro rata refund, but apart from that there is no commitment. When you ask to end your membership you will not be charged another monthly membership fee. If you have left membership and then choose to rejoin as a member in the future, you will not be eligible for any of our new member offers, including but not limited to any promotion where the joining fee is waived.
What about this joining fee?
Our standard joining fee for new members is £150. But during our launch period this payment is being waived. So there is currently no joining fee for new members. This offer will be in place until at least the end of September. Once this offer ends, you can still join without a joining fee if:
- You have been referred by an existing member
- You have been referred by a partner organisation that we have had contact with in the Bury St Edmunds area. This includes most private allied healthcare professionals and a range of legal and accountancy professionals.
- If you would like to become a partner organisation please contact us directly.
Is there a limit on member numbers?
Of course there is a limit. Anglim Private Health is being set up with the aim of providing the best possible care to our patients and especially our members, we can’t achieve that with unlimited members. Our initial limit is just 200 members. That is members not memberships so a family of four counts as four members. We will then judge how well we can deliver care to those members before deciding if we are able to expand the membership further. If our membership is full we will operate a wait list. We may also limit the number of new members joining on any given day, so we can ensure we give them the individual attention required.
When patient numbers and in particular member numbers increase, we will look to expand the team and fill in days so we are able to give our patients a full seven day service.
Don’t worry we have literally just started, so there is currently space for new members.
Would you do a deal for a business or group joining?
We believe our membership offering is both unique and very good value. We have agreed deals with some affiliates to reward referrals for members and we would be happy to extend that to a group who wanted to join together, please contact us if you would like to discuss this further. We are also willing to discuss options with small and medium size companies who would like to provide our service to some or all of their employees or directors; and we can structure our offering in a way that meets your needs. Please contact us and we can discuss this in more detail. We also offer a discount for paying for a period of membership upfront.
So where do I start?
If you want to book a one off appointment, you can do that by booking directly online or calling us on 01284 245665. If you would like to become a member you will need to attend for a discussion to make sure you fully understand what the membership offering entails. That discussion is free and can also be booked online or accessed by calling us. You can also make contact by messaging us through our website or via facebook. We hope to hear from you soon!