During the consultation, Dr Natasha Thandrayen will talk through your medical issues in depth, including current and past medical problems, and details of any medications that you may be taking.
This is a very important step as Dr Thandrayen needs to completely understand the entirety of your medical situation before she can give you a treatment plan.
Many medical conditions can impact upon each other and therefore Dr Thandrayen will build up a picture of your overall health, by understanding how each of your medical conditions are affecting you.
Dr Natasha Thandrayen sees patients of all ages for multiple complex medical conditions, and also for simpler issues and routine blood tests or screening. She believes that patients should be in charge of their own healthcare, and she will give you all the options in order for you to make informed decisions regarding your treatment plan, based on clinical evidence and guidelines.
Over her years as an NHS and Private GP, Dr Thandrayen has identified the very best hospital Consultants for individual conditions, and has developed a close network of specialists in each field. You will always have the option to be referred to a different specialist of your choice.
For patients recovering from an illness, she can also go through your clinic letters and explain how a treatment plan from a hospital specialist will integrate into a holistic healthcare package to get you back on the road to recovery, for example with recommendations for physiotherapy, counselling, fitness and dietary advice.
Dr Natasha Thandrayen does not employ other GP colleagues to see her patients, you will see her at every appointment, thereby maximising continuity of care. With time, she will have an in-depth knowledge of your medical problems, and build up a timeline of your health which often allows for the detection problems before they surface, for example via the monitoring of your blood results.
Appointments can often be offered the same day, but if you need to be seen urgently and she is unable to see you in the timeframe you require, she can guide you to where you may be seen and assessed sooner. Having worked in the healthcare sector for many years, she understands that accessing medical care can be rather difficult to navigate for some patients, and she will help you to access the correct services promptly.
Face-to-face appointments typically result in an examination and therefore if you are shielding due to an underlying medical condition, please inform Dr Thandrayen prior to the appointment so that masks may be worn. A nurse chaperone will be offered for all examinations, please do let Dr Thandrayen or the reception team know if you wish for a chaperone to be present.
All consultation fees are to be paid prior to the appointment date to allow for clinic planning, otherwise this may result in the booking being cancelled. Patients ought to be aware that investigations, scans and other tests or treatments are not included in the consultation bill. These will need to paid directly to the clinic, who will arrange these investigations at a time that suits you.
Private medical insurance companies are often unlikely to cover the cost of seeing a private GP, however they often cover the costs of investigations or consultations with Consultant specialists following referral.
Dr Natasha Thandrayen is keen to ensure that no unnecessary imaging investigations are requested. In some cases a scan may not be beneficial, as a diagnosis and treatment plan can be given without this. When considering whether a scan would be helpful, she will weigh up the risks of any radiation exposure associated with the scan, with the potential benefit of the investigation. Dr Thandrayen is keen to avoid unnecessary costs to patients, as she is fully aware that private healthcare can be costly. You will be under no obligation to proceed with private tests and investigations, and Dr Thandrayen will give you all the options to consider.
Dr Thandrayen has access to the very best scanning technology. The 3T MRI scanner at 17 Harley Street is extremely high resolution, which results in images of exceptional quality, compared to standard MRI scanners. Only highly skilled and experienced Consultant Radiologists are used to interpret the scan images. They will then produce a report which Dr Thandrayen will discuss with you. These reports will also be made available to patients on the dedicated secure online patient portal, so that patients may access and download their data whenever needed.
For patients suffering from claustrophobia, it is important to note that the MRI scanner is semi-open and the technicians will be on hand to help, support you, and make you to feel at ease as they understand that this can be a difficult time for some patients, and they are trained in dealing with this.
Depending on the time of the day and how busy the clinic is, it is often possible to arrange a scan on the same day. Blood tests and ECG (Electrocardiogram - which records the rhythm, rate and electrical activity of the heart) can be performed after your appointment by the dedicated nursing team. If you have a needle phobia please do not hesitate to let a member of the team know, so that the nurses can provide extra support during your blood test.
Some of the more specialised investigations are performed in other centres in the Harley street area, for example breast screening is performed at the nearby King Edward VII Hospital Breast Unit.
If possible please bring any medical documentation, scan results, symptom diaries, personal accounts and timelines to the appointment. Alternatively once you are a patient of the GP practice you may upload the documents to our secure online portal system prior to the appointment. This would help enormously as Dr Thandrayen will review these before your consultation, thereby maximising your appointment time.
In addition to this, you also have the option to provide some information prior to the GP appointment with Dr Natasha Thandrayen in the ‘Notes’ section of the secure GDPR compliant online patient system that you will be given access to.
Some patients find it helpful to also bring a family member or trusted friend to the appointment. As most appointments are an hour long, there is an awful lot of information provided, and sometimes having a second person in the room helps with retention of important facts and management plans. This is obviously not mandatory and in any case Dr Natasha Thandrayen will write a comprehensive clinic letter for you after the appointment. This will be sent securely to your email, and you may download the letter or any other documents at any time via our secure online patient portal system. Please let Dr Thandrayen’s team know at the time of booking if you require a translator.
This is the standard consultation with Dr Natasha Thandrayen as it allows enough time to gain a complete understanding of the medical problem, with time to explain the management plan in detail.
These consultations will ideally be performed face-to-face as it allows Dr Natasha Thandrayen the opportunity to examine you, which is not possible with a virtual conferencing platform or the telephone. Occasionally a 60 minute appointment can also be performed virtually following triage, depending on the medical problem. These can also be followed up by a face-to-face appointment to allow for an examination to be performed if necessary.
These shorter consultations are typically booked as a follow up appointment, or for discussing the results of blood tests or scans, explaining the management plan from a specialist, checking the progress of treatment, or similar issues. 30 minute appointments can be booked to discuss a single medical issue, but attempting to deal with multiple medical problems in a short appointment slot is not beneficial.
A 30 minute appointment can also be booked as a virtual appointment following triage to assess suitability.
These extended appointment slots are for patients who wish for multiple issues to be dealt with at the same time, so that a cohesive management plan can be delivered. Dr Natasha Thandrayen prides herself in helping patients who have complex medical conditions. Often patients with these issues need a GP who has the time to go through each point in turn, and carefully consider how to tackle the situation in its entirety.
Dr Thandrayen is keen to deliver the very best care available for patients with a complex medical background, and therefore will consider each point in your medical history and evaluate how to manage it in the context of your other medical problems. She feels that reflecting on a patient’s journey as a whole and delivering a holistic package of care is paramount.
A nominal fee of £35 is payable annually which provides patients with the following benefits:
Patients who are new to the practice will need to attend an initial consultation before they are able to register. If the intention is to register with the practice then the 5% discount may be applied to the initial consultation fee in addition to the £35 registration fee (consultation fee with 5% discount + £35).
This £35 payment will be collected via a direct debit which will be set up by Dr Natasha’s financial team.
Telephone appointments are available in 30, 60 or 90 consultations and are priced at the same rate as the face-to-face consultations.
These appointments are only booked at the discretion of Dr Thandrayen if she feels that the consultation can be safely done in this format. Dr Thandrayen believes that examination and seeing patients face-to-face is important in the doctor-patient relationship and for improving the chances of detecting important clinical conditions.