Dr Craig Wylie
Lead GP at Duality Healthcare Galgorm
Affordability and Accessibility – this is central to the ethos of Duality Healthcare.
We offer a primary care service that is complementary to the NHS. Using our services can help create capacity at NHS GP reception desks and in NHS GP consulting rooms across the province, and provide you with immediate and most importantly affordable private GP access.
We spoke last week specifically about accessibility, and this week our key message is affordability.
From today, all our membership plans include the first GP or urgent care appointment absolutely free, with a further free GP or urgent care appointment applied each year upon renewal of your membership.
Non-members remain most welcome to use our services, but we believe our memberships represent unparalleled value for money and accessibility to all.
As a member, you will continue to be entitled to significant discounts on treatments and consultations, including paying £80 or less for an annual health screening, £45 or less for a GP consultation, and £35 or less for an Urgent Care appointment.
This offering covers all our membership plans which start at just £6.99/per month for an individual and £14.99/month for a family, with each family plan covering unlimited children <18 years in your family house. You can check out the membership packages available at the bottom of this article!
Why is the timing of this affordability announcement important?
Since our article last week, another GP practice has unfortunately handed back its contract and the GP Local Medical Committee Conference met on Saturday 18th November, with Dr Stout describing NI’s NHS General Practice Service as “in the most difficult position it has ever been in”.
The LMC conference voted in favour of GP practices implementing several measures to ensure safe working practices over another challenging winter and to protect against further collapse of GP services.
As I detailed last week, this announcement encourages NHS GPs to provide safe and sustainable care to NHS patients, but this may also unfortunately result in further delays to access.
With this in mind, Duality Healthcare’s Directors have extended our new offering in support of patients during this time of uncertainty.
We hope it will alleviate the pressures on the NHS system and to ensure patients are able to receive the timely attention they desire. Patients who choose to register or come and see us, do not leave their own NHS GP surgeries. They can choose to use us when they wish, like any other private service.
In addition to this announcement, I have personally contacted every GP practice in the Northern Federation area this week detailing how Duality Healthcare can help them through:
• Provision of urgent care appointments for patients who need to see a GP and cannot wait until the next day;
• Assisting with work that is important to patients but not NHS essential (e.g. driving medicals, sports medicals, travel vaccines, letters, health screening results, or health MOTs);
• Undertaking special interest clinics including sports medicals, joint injections, smears, minor surgery clinics;
• Issuing private referral letters and prescriptions; and
• Generally alleviating pressures in NHS clinics by assisting with non-priority work.
We are with you for the whole journey - so why not start the journey now by accessing your first free GP appointment?
I have heard feedback from patients, practice managers, and NHS GPs since our Galgorm clinic opened on 30th October, and we will be producing an FAQ in response to our most commonly asked questions which we will share with you soon!
SILVER Membership Plan
GOLD Membership Plan
PLATINUM Membership Plan
DIAMOND Membership Plan
MORE BELOW BY DR CRAIG WYLIE (Lead GP at Duality Healthcare Galgorm)