The Private Medical Group Ltd

Patient Terms and Conditions

1. About these terms

1.1 These terms and conditions (“Terms”) apply to all private services provided by The Private Medical Group Ltd (“TPMG”, “we”, “us”, “our”) to patients (“you”, “your”).

1.2 Please read these Terms carefully before booking. By booking an appointment or accepting treatment you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, please do not book.

1.3 These Terms should be read alongside our Privacy Notice, Complaints Procedure and any treatment-specific information or consent forms you are given. If there is a conflict, the consent form for your treatment takes priority.

1.4 Nothing in these Terms affects your statutory rights as a consumer.

2. About us and how we are regulated

2.1 The Private Medical Group Ltd is a company registered in England and Wales (company number: 15239327). Our registered office is 7-9 The Avenue, Eastbourne, East Sussex, BN21 3YA.

2.2 We provide clinics at:

• One Ashford Private Hospital, Kennington Rd, Willesborough, Ashford TN24 0YS
• Spencer Private Hospital, Ramsgate Rd, Margate CT9 4BG
• The Foundry Clinic, Moat Sole, Sandwich CT13 9AL
• Estuary View Medical Centre, Boorman Way, Whitstable, CT5 3SE

2.3 You can contact us on 0333 210 2146 or at info@theprivatemedicalgroup.co.uk.

2.4 We are registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) (provider ID 1-21533023951). We are registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) (registration number ZB826393).

2.5 All our doctors are registered with the General Medical Council (GMC) and all our nurses with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). Our clinicians hold appropriate medical indemnity cover for the services they provide.

2.6 We are not an emergency service. If you need urgent medical help, call 999, contact NHS 111 or attend your nearest A&E department.

3. Our services

3.1 We provide private, non-emergency services including:

• dermatology consultations
• skin surgery, including the removal of skin lesions
• mole mapping and skin checks
• allergy services

3.2 Consultations take place face to face at our clinics. Some follow-up appointments may be offered by telephone or video where clinically appropriate.

3.3 Your clinician will decide whether a treatment is clinically appropriate for you. We may decline to provide a treatment, or recommend a different one, if we consider it is not in your best interests.

3.4 Where tissue is removed, it may be sent to an accredited third-party laboratory for histology (analysis under a microscope). Your clinician will explain how and when you will receive the results.

3.5 If you need care that we do not provide, we may recommend that you are referred to another provider or back to your GP.

3.6 The fee for skin surgery includes your aftercare following the procedure, including the removal of sutures. Your clinician will give you written aftercare instructions and explain what follow-up you need. If you have any concerns after your procedure, please contact us. If further treatment is needed beyond your included aftercare, we will explain any costs before it goes ahead.

3.7 We will give you the results of any histology or other tests, and explain what they mean, at a follow-up appointment, by telephone or in writing. Your clinician will tell you when to expect them. If you have not heard from us within that time, please contact us.

3.8 If your clinician prescribes medicine, this will be a private prescription. The cost of the medicine is not included in our fees and is paid to the pharmacy. Your GP is not obliged to take over prescribing a medicine we have recommended, and may decide whether to do so based on their own clinical judgement and local prescribing policies.

4. Registration, eligibility and appointments

4.1 Before your first appointment you must complete our registration form with accurate and complete personal and medical information.

4.2 Our services are for patients of all ages. Patients under 18 must attend with a parent or legal guardian, who must give consent on their behalf where required.

4.3 You can book appointments online, by telephone or in person. We will confirm your appointment by email or text message.

4.4 We may need to reschedule an appointment, for example if a clinician is unwell. We will give you as much notice as possible and offer the next suitable appointment or a full refund.

4.5 We may refuse or end our services to you if:

• you are abusive, threatening or violent towards our staff or other patients
• you give us false or misleading information
• you are not clinically suitable for the service requested

In these cases we will refund any fees paid for services not yet provided.

4.6 Where we treat a patient under 18:

• the parent or legal guardian who books the appointment accepts these Terms on the child’s behalf and is responsible for paying all fees
• young people aged 16 and 17 can usually consent to their own treatment
• children under 16 may consent to their own treatment if their clinician judges that they fully understand what is proposed (known as Gillick competence)
• we will involve the parent or guardian in decisions about care wherever appropriate, while respecting the young person’s right to confidentiality

5. Fees and payment

5.1 All our patients are self-paying. We do not work directly with private medical insurers. If you hold insurance, you may be able to claim back your costs from your insurer. We can provide an itemised receipt, but we cannot guarantee that your insurer will reimburse you.

5.2 Our current fees are shown on our website and will be confirmed to you before you book. Fees may change, but the fee confirmed at booking will apply to that appointment.

5.3 Payment is required in full as follows:

Service	When payment is due
Dermatology consultation	At booking
Mole mapping	At booking
Allergy consultation	At booking
Skin surgery	£200 deposit before the procedure, final payment via a secure payment link we send by text message

 

5.4 Additional charges may apply for histology, prescriptions, further investigations, follow-up appointments, reports or copies of letters. We will tell you about any additional charge before it is incurred.

5.5 We accept payment by debit or credit card, or through our online payment portal.

5.6 For your security, we will never ask you for card details by email, or by text message except through our secure payment link. If you receive a request you are unsure about, please call us on 0333 210 2146 before paying.

5.7 A deposit of £200 is required to secure your procedure date. The deposit is deducted from the total fee, and the balance is payable before the procedure via our secure payment link. Your deposit is refunded in full if you cancel or rearrange with more than 48 hours’ notice. If you cancel with less than 48 hours’ notice or do not attend, the cancellation charges in section 7 apply.

6. Cancellations, late arrival and missed appointments

6.1 If you need to cancel or rearrange an appointment, please give us at least 48 hours’ notice by telephone or email. This lets us offer the slot to another patient.

6.2 Our cancellation charges are:

Notice given	Consultations and mole mapping	Skin surgery
48 hours or more	No charge; full refund or free rebooking	No charge; full refund or free rebooking
Less than 48 hours	100% of the fee	100% of the fee
Missed appointment (no notice)	100% of the fee	100% of the fee

 

6.3 If you arrive more than 15 minutes late, we may not be able to see you. In that case the appointment will be treated as missed. If we can still see you, your appointment may be shortened.

6.4 We may waive a cancellation charge at our discretion, for example in a genuine emergency or if you are unwell.

6.5 These charges reflect the cost to us of a clinic slot and clinician time that cannot be reallocated at short notice.

7. Refunds

7.1 You will receive a full refund if:

• we cancel your appointment and you do not want to rebook
• you have been charged in error
• you cancel with at least 48 hours’ notice (section 7)

7.2 Refund requests should be sent to info@theprivatemedicalgroup.co.uk within 30 days of the payment or appointment. We will process agreed refunds within 14 days, using the same payment method you used.

7.3 Clinical outcomes vary between patients, so we cannot refund fees because a treatment did not achieve the result you hoped for, provided it was carried out with reasonable care and skill.

7.4 Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, we must provide our services with reasonable care and skill. If we do not, you may be entitled to have the service repeated or to a price reduction. Nothing in this section affects those rights.

8. Your responsibilities

8.1 To help us care for you safely, you agree to:

• give us accurate and complete information about your medical history, current medicines, allergies and any previous investigations or treatment for the same condition
• tell us promptly about any changes to your health or contact details
• follow the pre-treatment and aftercare instructions your clinician gives you
• contact us, your GP or NHS 111 promptly if you have any unexpected symptoms or side effects after treatment
• treat our staff and other patients with courtesy and respect

8.2 If you need an interpreter, please tell us when you book so we can make arrangements.

8.3 We cannot be responsible for any harm that results from information you withheld or gave us incorrectly, or from not following your clinician’s advice.

9. Consent, chaperones and clinical photography

9.1 Your clinician will explain the proposed treatment, its benefits, risks and alternatives before you decide whether to go ahead. For procedures, we will ask you to sign a consent form. You may withdraw consent at any time before or during treatment.

9.2 You are welcome to bring a friend or relative to your appointment. You may also ask for a chaperone for any examination. Where an intimate examination is needed, we will offer a chaperone.

9.3 Clinical photographs are an important part of dermatology care, particularly for mole mapping and monitoring skin lesions. With your consent, we will take photographs of the affected areas. These images:

• form part of your medical record and are stored securely in line with section 12
• are used only for your care, unless you give separate written consent for another use
• will not be used for teaching, training, publication or marketing without your separate written consent, and will not identify you unless you agree

10. Use of AI clinical documentation (Heidi)

10.1 Some of our clinicians use Heidi, an AI-assisted clinical documentation tool (sometimes called an “ambient scribe”), during consultations. With your agreement, Heidi listens to the conversation between you and your clinician and produces a draft clinical note and, where needed, a draft letter.

10.2 Heidi supports your clinician; it does not replace them. Heidi does not diagnose, make clinical decisions or give advice. Your clinician reviews, corrects and approves every note and letter before it is added to your medical record or sent to anyone.

10.3 Your clinician will tell you at the start of the consultation if they would like to use Heidi. Using Heidi is your choice. You can:

• decline its use before the consultation starts
• ask for it to be paused or switched off at any point during the consultation

Choosing not to use Heidi will not affect your care in any way. Your clinician will record the consultation notes in the usual way instead.

10.4 Heidi processes your information on our behalf as a data processor, under a written data processing agreement. Your data is hosted in the UK and protected by appropriate technical and security measures. The audio of your consultation is not stored and is deleted once the draft note has been produced. Your information is not used to train Heidi’s AI models.

10.5 We have assessed the use of Heidi through a Data Protection Impact Assessment and a clinical safety risk assessment. Further details, including the lawful basis for processing, are in our Privacy Notice. If you have any questions, please ask your clinician or contact our Data Protection Officer (section 12).

11. Medical records, communication and data protection

11.1 We are the data controller for the personal and health information we hold about you. We process it in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. Our Privacy Notice explains what we collect, why, our lawful basis, who we share it with and how long we keep it: https://theprivatemedicalgroup.co.uk/privacy-policy/

11.2 We keep your medical records securely and for as long as required by law and professional guidance.

11.3 We will send a summary of your consultation and treatment to your GP, unless you tell us you do not want us to. If you ask us not to, we will record this and explain any risks to your care. Where it is in your best interests, we may also share information with other clinicians involved in your care.

11.4 We will only share your information without your consent where the law allows or requires it, for example to protect you or others from serious harm, in line with GMC guidance.

11.5 We may contact you by telephone, email or text message about your appointments, results and payments. We will only send you marketing messages if you have agreed to receive them, and you can opt out at any time.

11.6 You have the right to request a copy of your records and to exercise your other data protection rights. To do so, or to raise a concern about how we use your information, contact our Data Protection Officer at info@theprivatemedicalgroup.co.uk. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at ico.org.uk.

12. Our liability

12.1 We will provide our services with reasonable care and skill, in line with accepted professional standards.

12.2 All medical treatment carries some risk, and results vary between individuals. Your clinician will explain the risks relevant to you. We cannot guarantee a particular outcome, and we are not liable for a recognised complication or an outcome that differs from what you hoped for, where treatment was provided with reasonable care and skill.

12.3 We are not liable for:

• loss or harm caused by incomplete or inaccurate information you gave us, or by not following your clinician’s advice
• delays or failures caused by events outside our reasonable control
• indirect or business losses, such as loss of earnings, which were not reasonably foreseeable when you booked

12.4 Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits our liability for:

• death or personal injury caused by our negligence
• fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation
• anything else that cannot be excluded or limited by law, including your rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015

13. Complaints

13.1 We aim to get things right, but if you are unhappy with any part of our service, please tell us. Many concerns can be resolved quickly by speaking to the clinic team.

13.2 You can make a formal complaint in writing to our Complaints Manager at info@theprivatemedicalgroup.co.uk. We will:

1. acknowledge your complaint within 3 working days
2. investigate and send you a full written response within 20 working days, or write to explain the delay and when you can expect a response

13.3 If you are not satisfied with our response, you can ask for it to be reviewed by a director not previously involved.

13.4 You can also share your experience with the Care Quality Commission (CQC). The CQC does not investigate individual complaints but uses feedback to monitor services.

13.5 Making a complaint will not affect your care. Our full Complaints Procedure is available at https://theprivatemedicalgroup.co.uk/complaints-procedure/ or on request.

14. Changes to these terms and governing law

14.1 We may update these Terms from time to time, for example to reflect changes in the law or in our services. The version in force when you book will apply to that booking. The current version and its effective date will always be on our website.

14.2 These Terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales.

14.3 If a dispute cannot be resolved through our complaints process, you may bring proceedings in the courts of England and Wales. If you live in Scotland or Northern Ireland, you may also bring proceedings in the courts of the country where you live.

14.4 We are open to resolving disputes through mediation or another form of alternative dispute resolution if you wish, but this is voluntary and does not affect your right to go to court.

14.5 If any part of these Terms is found to be invalid or unenforceable, the rest will continue to apply.