Patient information
Welcome to Reading Knee Unit. Hopefully we can provide you with as much information regarding the referral process for private consultations and your subsequent appointment with Mr O'Leary. Please do take the time to read through this carefully, as it contains important information about proceeding further. If there is anything not answered here or anything you are not clear about please contact his private secretary on 0845 388 6102 or email:
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
for further information.
Index of information for this page
Referrals Private health Insurance details X-rays MRI Scans
The referral process
All patients regardless whether seen via the NHS or privately, need to be referred by their GP or Consultant in the first instance. If your physiotherapist has recommended that you see Mr O'Leary then you will need to arrange for the referral via your GP with the physiotherapy report offered in support of this recommendation. Once you have your GP's agreement to refer you can ring ahead to arrange a provisional appointment. Confirmed appointments can only be given upon receipt of the referral letter.
Mr O'Leary's private outpatient appointments are usually on Monday afternoons (new patient clinic) or Tuesday afternoon's (new patients and follow up appointments). His theatre lists are usually every Tuesday morning.
If you call in advance of us receiving the GP referral - then please have your diary and the following information to hand -
* NHS number (obtainable from your GP surgery)
* Insurance company (if you wish to use private medical insurance to cover any aspect of your treatment)
* Insurance membership number and pre-authorisation / claim number
* Home telephone number
* Work / Daytime telephone number
* Emergency contact name & telephone number
Important information regarding using medical health insurance to cover treatment
We endeavour to help you utilise medical insurance where possible and ask that prior to your initial appointment with us that you thoroughly check the conditions of your policy with your insurer. Every policy is different but we are not party to either individual or corporate policy information. We would like to draw your attention to the fact that regardless of medical health cover you remain responsible for the payment of fees in the event of any failure by your insurer to cover your treatment. It is therefore essential that before you embark on any appointment or treatment under Mr O'Leary's care, you contact your insurer or policy manager for authorisation, not only to ensure that you are fully covered but also to make sure that you are made fully aware of any specific or potential policy restrictions applied by your insurer in advance including any that may be applied if you subsequently need to undergo any arthroscopic (keyhole / ACL reconstruction) surgery - this is especially significant if you are insured via any scheme by BUPA as they require you to forward medical information for review and pre-authorisation by their MSK panel prior to us booking any date for admission.
Proceeding any further with a private consultation or treatment is on the basis that you have read and understood the above. Our advice would be that you keep a clear record of any conversation you have with your insurer with names and dates and any claim or authorisation numbers.
Mr O'Leary's outpatient and surgery fees are static regardless of insurer and non-negotiable. Guides to his current outpatient fees can be obtained from his secretary on 0845 388 6102. His outpatient fee is for consultation only and does not include or cover the costs of any other hospital test, x-ray, MRI scan, or treatment that you may need to undergo. In the event that you do need any surgical procedure we also provide full details of expected surgeon costs in order for you to discuss this direct with your insurer before proceeding any further.
Without proof of a patients signed consent from the insurer we do not send or discuss medical information with any third party. Unfortunately your verbal consent alone is not sufficient. We do not administer insurance policies and are unable to give any advice regarding particular insurers. Other than sending account reminders or investigation of ‘missing' payments, we do not liaise direct with insurers regarding account disputes whether this is non-payment or shortfall. In the unfortunate event where this occurs then you will be informed in writing and you will be asked to settle your account direct with Mr O'Leary and then claim back any monies you are owed or settle any account disputes direct with your insurer. We are happy to provide you with evidence of payment by receipt. Please make the secretary aware if this service is required. We would advise you to bring your insurance details with you to your consultation appointment.
Although you will be asked for credit / debit card details on arrival at Dunedin hospital - this is only in relation to any hospital charges you may incur (x-rays / scans / blood tests etc) and does not relate in any way to the consultants fee, which is invoiced entirely separately by his practice. Even if you are covered by medical health insurance the hospital will take card details in case of any excess or shortfall applied but they will write to you to advise you if this is the case.
Paediatric patients (under 16 years of age)
Please note that although Mr O'Leary is happy to see paediatric patients in his outpatient clinic at Dunedin we do not have paediatric in-patient nursing care at Dunedin hospital and you will need to be referred on to the Royal Berkshire Hospital if surgery is subsequently required.
PREVIOUS X-RAYS OR SCANS
please note that regardless of how films have been reported, Mr O'Leary needs to view all relevant x-rays / scans at your consultation appointment. If these were taken privately (i.e. other than Dunedin Hospital) and you haven't got them in your possession you will need to arrange for them to be sent to us in time for your appointment. If you have had x-rays / scans taken via the NHS at either of the following hospitals - Royal Berkshire Hospital, West Berkshire (Newbury) or Townlands Hospital then please let us know so that we can try and arrange for these to be available on the day. Other than the NHS hospitals mentioned you will need to contact the particular hospital personally to obtain copies of the images on CD to bring with you to your consultation appointment or arrange for them to be sent to us beforehand - please let us know what arrangements you subsequently make. GP surgeries do not generally have copies of the images.
MRI SCANS - IMPORTANT PATIENT INFORMATION - PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE ATTENDING
An MRI (Magnetic Resonance Image) Scan may be requested for you by Mr O'Leary following your consultation with him. This is not organised prior to his initial consultation unless he directs otherwise in exceptional circumstances and appointments are not made or arranged by the consultant's secretary.
If you are referred for an MRI scan following a consultation appointment at his rooms at Dunedin Hospital, it may be possible (but not guaranteed) that this will be done on the same day as your appointment, in which case you will need to make allowance for a longer time spent at the hospital. If you have other commitments or are unable to have your MRI scan done on the same day then your referral will be forwarded to Berkshire Private Imaging (** tel. no. below) who can arrange for a more convenient appointment date and time to be sent to you. Please make them aware of any dates you will be unable to attend beforehand. If you have had your consultation at his rooms in Henley-On-Thames then as above, an appointment will be organised for you by Berkshire Private Imaging - contact telephone number as shown below. Dependent on your medical health insurer your scan can take place at any of the following 3 sites -
** Berkshire Private Imaging (MRI Appointments) - Private Secretaries 0118 903 6930
Dunedin Hospital - MRI Department. 0118 955 3415 ext 4136
Berkshire Independent Hospital - main switchboard 0118 902 8000
Royal Berkshire Hospital - MRI Dept. 0118 322 7386 - some paediatric (under 16 yrs) MRI scans may be referred to Royal Berks Hospital. Please call Berkshire Private Imaging for guidelines.
If you are particularly claustrophobic then it is possible for you to be referred to an open MRI scanner based in Windsor or Swindon - please make Mr O'Leary aware at your initial appointment so that the appropriate referral can be made.
Following your MRI Scan
Mr O'Leary will usually indicate to you whether he will call you with your results or arrange to see you in his clinic again for a follow up appointment. Please make sure to check with him at your initial appointment but if you are not sure or cannot recall please call his secretary for further advice.
Please be aware that there are occasions when Mr O'Leary will decide that having reviewed the scan he would prefer to see you in his outpatient clinic to discuss the results further in which case you will be sent an appointment in the post.
Regardless of where your scan takes place - the images are sent onto a private MRI company for reporting by specialist radiologists. Once this has been done, the reported scans are sent back to Mr O'Leary. More often than not the scans are back with us within 7 days, however there are always exceptions due to volume of work and occasionally it may take slightly longer for us to receive them. MRI staff are not able to give you an accurate date or indication of when Mr O'Leary will see the scan results.
MRI RESULTS Mr O'Leary is usually only at Dunedin Hospital twice a week. If he has told you that he will call you with the results then please take this into consideration. PLEASE NOTE If you miss his call we are not able to pass on a telephone number to patients of where he may be calling you from and he is not able to leave a return number. Telephone calls regarding MRI results are entirely at his discretion and due to the volume of MRI referrals and results coming in, he does have to limit the number of times he can attempt to contact you. If he is unsuccessful in his attempts to speak to you on the numbers you have provided at your initial consultation then he will subsequently instruct me to organise a follow up appointment for you to attend his outpatient clinic instead. It is important to please make him aware at your initial consultation appointment of any specific number where you are available to take calls at most times to help avoid missed calls / poor signal area etc.
Please only call regarding results if you still haven't heard anything by the third week following your MRI scans.
Insured patients - Please ensure that you obtain authorisation from your insurer prior to having your scan.
Self-Funding patients - Depending on where your scan is done - please ring the relevant dept. for information regarding costs (usually payable on the day of the scan).