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New Victoria Hospital launches GP service to increase the drive for self-pay patients following the COVID-19 Pandemic

New Victoria Hospital, a private medical facility based in Kingston-Upon-Thames in Surrey, recently launched its GP service to help facilitate more self-pay patients through its doors.

The Pandemic has taken a great toll on the health of the nation since there were 4 million fewer referrals to outpatients between January and September 2020 compared to the same period in 2019. This led to 60% less GP referrals for suspected cancer in April 2020. The new GP service at the hospital aims to tackle the unmet demand of thousands of people who are either still waiting to receive consultations or even surgery.

Joel Adrian, a 31 year old Hollywood TV and film stuntman and former patient, understood the importance of a fast treatment turnaround to maintain health and a good quality of life when he booked in for surgery after injuring his knee following a bad landing whilst performing on set. Fearing that he’d not be able to work, he initially ignored it. But the injury got worse and he realised his knee was no longer stable: “It was behaving strangely and I could no longer rely on it to carry my weight. When you’re on set, you’re expected to get the film ‘take’ as fast as possible because everything costs so much money to use and you’re being paid to perform specific movements.”

The injury turned out to be a torn ACL and meniscus - something that, for Joel, would require reconstructive surgery, much like Roger Federer underwent last year. “It’s not something everyone needs but given my line of work, I wouldn’t have a job without it,” he commented.

Without medical insurance in the UK, Joel who has been featured in major blockbuster productions including Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and The King’s Man, set about researching the best facility to get the procedure done through Self-Pay, settling on New Victoria Hospital after finding that it was highly rated and had a competitive price.

He then underwent a consultation with Orthopaedic Consultant Surgeon Paul Trikha, who specialises in Knee Ligament Construction. “He works often with sports people, so I felt safe in his hands and sure that he’d be able to give me an accelerated recovery. I felt like he really understood me,” Joel recalls.

After reviewing Joel’s injuries over and explaining exactly what needed to happen, Mr Trikha booked his surgery in four days later.

“This type of injury is common amongst professional sports people or people with active jobs, such as Joel,” said Mr Trikha. “The goal of the surgery was to provide stability. Due to the nature of his job, we knew he was at high risk of re-rupturing his knee, so we augmented his repair with a lateral tenodesis - a further stabilising procedure.”

Following the surgery, Joel recovered at New Victoria Hospital.

“My stay was great - the nurses and other practitioners were really helpful and caring.” Being so far from home, this meant a lot to him. “It was a difficult time as I had no relatives around me, so I was really glad I went private - I was made to feel so comfortable and the communication was excellent.”

David Marshall, New Victoria Hospital’s Chief Executive said, “We aim to add value to our community with the addition of our new private GP service offering children and adults face-to-face and virtual consultations. The benefits include patients gaining fast track access to specialist care and diagnostic examinations such as ultrasound, X-rays, CT scans and MRI scans and Physiotherapy.”

The Self Pay service offers a wide range of clear and affordable packages across most treatments and services, with fixed-price options and financial plans from as little as 0% APR. The hospital also price matches.

New Victoria Hospital is a well-regarded medical facility recently winning the Excellent Patient Experience Award by Doctify, the healthcare patient platform where the hospital consistently achieves a 4.87 out of a 5 star rating.99.75% of patients would recommend the hospital to friends and family.

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