Terms & Conditions
- INFORMATION ABOUT US
1.1 Mr David Penman Consultant Fetal Medicine Specialist and Gynaecologist (Fetal Medicine UK) The term “Doctor” means Mr David Penman. HTC means Hempstead Therapy Centre.
1.2 The terms “we” “us” and “our” means Mr David Penman.
1.3 Mr Penman is registered with the General Medical Council and is on the appropriate specialist register for the services they provide and is subject to annual appraisal and adhere to the process of continuing medical education and revalidation as set out by the General Medical Council.
1.4 He is responsible for compliance with all relevant regulatory and local requirements relating to medical liability and professional indemnity insurance and have medical indemnity insurance arrangements in place with approved UK medical defence organisations.
1.5 He is committed to safe and ethical prescribing and medicines management as outlined in ‘good practice in prescribing and managing medicines and devices’ (GMC, April 2021). This includes the following commitments;
1.5.1 a doctor should only prescribe medicine or treatment, including repeat prescriptions, when they have adequate knowledge of the patient’s health and are satisfied that the medicine or treatment serves the patient’s needs.
1.5.2 a doctor should only prescribe medicine or treatment that is considered effective based on the best available evidence.
1.5.3 a doctor should check that the care or treatment they provide to the patient is compatible with any other treatments the patient is receiving, including where possible self-prescribed or over-the-counter medications.
1.5.4 there is no guarantee that a doctor will prescribe any medication at all, and specific treatments or therapy are not guaranteed. A doctor will operate in a professional manner and in accordance with relevant regulations, laws, codes of practice and established medical ethics requirements. A doctor is within his/her rights to refuse to prescribe if he/she cannot satisfy him/herself that these conditions are met.
1.6 The healthcare services provided are not intended to replace your usual NHS service but should be considered as an accessible and convenient service in addition to existing care and treatment. The services we provide are provided subject to these terms and conditions.
- OUR SERVICES
2.1 We will provide private gynaecology and fetal scanning services (“Services”) in accordance with these Terms and Conditions. The Services may include face to face clinic, telephone, email and video consultations. We will supply urgent courses of medicines and prescriptions where required, liaise closely with other health care workers and services, and provide referrals as necessary.
2.2 We provide our Services during our normal business hours which may vary. Please see the homepage on our website for current business hours. We provide urgent same day and pre-bookable appointments, Monday to Saturday on a first come first served basis. Access to Dr Penman’s clinic are by appointment only. Patients should access our Services via the dedicated telephone number, website and email address provided to you at the time of booking.
- BOOKING
3.1 Before we provide any Services you will need to book through our website or by telephoning Dr Penman’s secretary. Payment is required on booking through the website. If you choose to see the doctor at Spire Alexandra Hospital, you are required to call them directly and book through them. Please note that if you are a self fund patient, you will receive an invoice for your consultation as the Spire Alexandra does not take any payments on behalf of the doctor.
- APPOINTMENTS
4.1 You can book an appointment with us via our dedicated telephone number, email address and online booking platform. You are encouraged to give us as much advance notice as possible for same day appointments.
4.2 We will confirm our acceptance of your appointment request by sending you an e-mail that confirms the appointment details. It is your responsibility to ensure that the patient details provided for the appointment are accurate and up-to-date.
4.3 We guarantee that you will see Mr Penman at your appointment. Clinic appointments are limited to the time slot selected at the time of booking the appointment therefore it is important that you arrive on time.
4.5 If you are under the age of 18, then unfortunately we cannot see you.
4.6 You are requested to book the correct scan which best reflects your stage of pregnancy. Further information is available on the booking and scan pages on our website. If you are unsure which appointment type to book, please discuss with the secretary via telephone prior to confirming an appointment. We reserve the right to adjust the consultation fee to adequately reflect the correct stage of pregnancy.
- FEES AND PAYMENT
5.1 Full details of our fees structure are available via the booking and fees pages on our website.
5.2 If you fail to make any payment due to us by the due date for payment, then we may require you to pay interest on the overdue amount at the rate of 1% per week. You shall pay the interest together with the overdue amount.
5.3 You shall pay all amounts due in full without any set-off, counterclaim, deduction or withholding (except for any deduction or withholding required law). We may at any time, without limiting our other rights or remedies, set off any amount owing to us by you against any amount payable by us to you.
5.4 We require payment in advance of providing fetal scanning and HTC Services. When advance payment is requested, we are under no obligation to provide any Services until payment is received.
5.5 We may not accept private medical insurance or other health coverage as payment, as our Services may not be covered under any health benefit plan or insurance coverage plan. You will be responsible for all fees incurred through your use of our Services and any laboratory investigations or tests organised through us.
5.6 Invoices will be sent to each patient following the delivery of any of our Services. Invoices must be settled within 7 days of receipt.
- YOUR OBLIGATIONS
6.1 We can only provide the Services if you provide us with the information we need in order to help you. Any information you give to us or to a Doctor, must be accurate and in English.
6.2 You agree that you shall:
6.2.1 follow any instructions you are given by a Doctor;
6.2.2 follow any instructions regarding the use of any medicines or healthcare products we recommend or prescribe (including in respect of use-by dates);
6.2.3 report any adverse or unexpected effects of treatments we recommend to us;
6.2.4 tell us if any of our information about you is or becomes inaccurate or incomplete; and
6.2.5 notify us promptly in writing or by email of any change of your contact details.
- MEDICATIONS
8.1 Any prescriptions written by us will have to be taken to the pharmacy of your choice and dispensed on a private fee-paying basis independent of NHS prescription cost. You understand that any dispensed private prescription is not influenced in any way by us or our Services and the cost of the medicine is a matter for the fulfilling pharmacy.
8.2 Specific categories of medicine may pose particular risks of harm or may be associated with overuse, misuse or addiction. A Doctor requires relevant current and historical information from a patient’s medical records before prescribing these medications and is within his/her rights to refuse to prescribe these medications if they cannot satisfy themselves that these conditions are met.
8.3 Our Service is not a prescription fulfilment service. Only after a consultation booked in accordance with clause 4 will a medication be prescribed by mutual agreement being reached between you and the Doctor under circumstances that are appropriate, legal and responsible. The final issuing of a prescription is at the sole discretion of the Doctor.
8.4 You understand, accept and agree that any prescription given to you is solely for personal use. If you lose a prescription, a copy may be reissued by the Doctor and may be subject to an additional cost. You accept that the Doctor has the right to refuse to issue a copy of the prescription should it be deemed inappropriate. You must keep any medicines securely and do not allow others (especially children) to use them.
- NHS GP and OTHER SERVICES
9.1 You understand that no third party (including your NHS GP) is under any obligation to action any instruction or recommendation provided by a Doctor.
9.2 Your baby scan report is given to you at the end of the consultation to be added to your maternity notes but you are not obliged to share this report with any other service, but that is your responsibility. A further report is sent to your NHS GP. If you do not wish your NHS GP to have a report, it is your responsibility to inform the Doctor at the time of your consultation with him.
- FURTHER INVESTIGATIONS
10.1 In order to formulate a diagnosis and treatment plan it may be necessary for the Doctor to advise further investigations and/or tests for which you will have to pay an additional charge. Payment for imaging such as x-rays and ultrasound and certain other investigations and tests will be paid to the private provider who performs the imaging other investigations or tests. Once the investigation is performed it is solely your responsibility to follow up the result with a Doctor at a mutually convenient time using an appropriate and secure form of communication. This in most cases will be either face-to-face during a follow-up appointment or over the phone or by egress ( a secure email service)
10.2 You are not obliged to pay for any further investigation or test. However, if you do not have a further investigation or test that is advised by the Doctor, you agree to hold us completely free of liability under every circumstance arising from the initial consultation.
10.3 If a further investigation or test is advised by the Doctor but you are unable to or do not wish to pay, you are advised to see your NHS GP for consultation. You are aware that your NHS GP is under no obligation to fulfil any investigation advised by the Doctor.
10.4 If the Doctor finds concerning symptoms during your fetal medicine baby scan, he will action the necessary follow-up with whichever NHS medical services are appropriate. The action of having a private medical baby scan does not preclude the patient from NHS Maternity Services and NHS Maternity Services will continue to give care to those patients having scans at our facility.
- REMOTE CONSULTATIONS – VIDEO AND TELEPHONE
11.1 Remote consultations are provided must be booked in advance. Not all issues can be managed safely using remote consultations. Treatment is therefore not guaranteed. When booking a remote consultation, you accept that a further face to face consultation may be recommended by the Doctor.
- CHAPERONES
12.1 If an appointment requires an intimate or personal examination and a chaperone is required, the examination is better conducted either at HTC on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons or at Spire Alexandra. The Doctor cannot do this sort of examination on Saturday at HTC. If you book an appointment that requires an examination of this sort outside these times, you may have to book a further appointment at your own expense.
12.2 The chaperone may be required to sign the patient’s medical notes after the appointment. If no chaperone can be arranged then the Doctor may decide not to proceed with any intimate or personal examinations and no refund will be applicable.
- FURTHER TREATMENT
13.1 You understand that a Doctor may refer you to a specialist directly on a private fee-paying basis and if you have private health care insurance this may be covered under your policy. You are responsible for checking with your private insurance provider whether the cost of further referral and investigation is covered under your policy. If you do not have private insurance you can still be referred to a specialist on a private self-pay basis only. You will be solely responsible for arranging your private appointment with any specialist for further treatment.
13.2 You are not obliged to pay or use health insurance but you understand and accept that in the event that a specialist referral is advised and you do not want to seek private further care, you agree to hold us and the Doctor completely free of any liability under every circumstance relating to your initial consultation.
13.3 In the circumstance that onward referral is advised by ta Doctor but you are unable to or do not wish to pay, you are advised to see your NHS GP for consultation. You are aware that your NHS GP is under no obligation whatsoever to fulfil any referral or any element of a treatment advised by a Doctor you have seen using our Services. However the Doctor will write to your NHS GP requesting such treatment be arranged.
13.4 In some circumstances the Doctor will advise the follow-up with themselves to monitor response to treatment or convey the results of investigation. You understand that you are not obliged to have this follow-up. However by not doing so, you hold us and the Doctor completely free of liability for any circumstance arising from the initial consultation.
- CANCELLATION AND LATENESS
14.1 You understand and accept that if you are more than 10 minutes late to an appointment you will lose your appointment time and forfeit the cost of the consultation. Furthermore, you understand and accept that if you are late for an appointment by a period of less than 10 minutes, the Doctor is not obliged to see you and you may still lose your consultation fee. If the Doctor can still accommodate your appointment, it will be at a time determined by the Doctor at his discretion and should this not be acceptable, you will lose the consultation fee.
14.2 You hold us and the Doctor completely free of liability under every circumstance relating to your reason for initial consultation in the event that you are late and your appointment is cancelled.
14.3 You may cancel an appointment at no charge, up to 48 hours before the agreed appointment time. Appointments that are cancelled with less than 48 hours’ notice, will be charged at 100% of the appointment fee. Cancellations made with less than 48 hours’ notice may not occur a cancellation fee if;
14.3.1 the appointment is rescheduled to a date/time within 7 calendar days of the original appointment, and
14.3.2 the cancellation is the first cancellation for that appointment booking.
14.4 You will not be liable for any charges or fees for an appointment if we decline or cancel your appointment in advance for any reason.
14.5 You accept that due to the nature of the business, we do not guarantee that an appointment will be kept at the exact time stipulated as the booked appointment. You understand that there can potentially be a short wait time for your appointment however the Doctor will do whatever is viable to keep to booked appointment times but it is accepted that occasionally there are emergencies that may delay the appointment. A refund under these circumstances in not given, an alternative appointment will be arranged.
- COMMUNICATIONS
15.1 In order to provide our Services, we may use different communication channels including, but not limited to, telephone, email and WhatsApp for business. Whilst we endeavour to ensure our communication platforms are monitored in normal working hours, we do not guarantee that any communication sent to us via any channel will be seen, read or replied to within any specific time frame.
15.2 Out of hours, our communication channels may be checked intermittently and infrequently and subject to the availability of, and at the discretion of, appropriate available staff.
15.3 You shall not use any of our communication channels for urgent or emergency contact where a prompt response is required.
15.4 By using our Services, or by engaging with any contact or subscription links on our website, you consent to receiving electronic communications from us. Your personal information is not sent to any third parties.
- WEBSITE
16.1 By accessing this website, you agree to be bound by these terms and conditions.
16.2 Although we make reasonable efforts to update the information on our website, we do not make any representations, warranties or guarantees whether express or implied, that the information is correct, current, or complete or that it does not contain technical inaccuracies or typographical errors. Where we are notified of inaccuracies or errors, we will take reasonable steps to make necessary corrections or amendments.
16.3 We do not warrant or guarantee that the functions contained in our website will be uninterrupted or error-free. Whilst we endeavour to ensure our website is safe to use, we do not warrant or guarantee that our website is free of viruses, malware or other harmful components
16.4 We have not reviewed all the sites linked and are not responsible for the contents of any such linked site. The presence of any link does not imply endorsement by us of the site. The use of any linked website is at the user’s own risk
- PROVIDING A SAFE SERVICE
17.1 We aim to offer a service that is safe for patients to use and staff to provide. We are committed to providing high quality care and treatment for patients and safeguarding the welfare of patients and staff. In order to protect both staff and patients, we respectfully point out that the following inappropriate behaviour will not be tolerated:
17.1.1 swearing
17.1.2 threatening or abusive behaviour
17.1.3 intoxication
17.1.4 verbal or physical abuse
17.1.5 inappropriate advances to our staff.
17.2 We have a policy of zero tolerance towards such behaviour, particularly threatening or violent behaviour towards anyone associated with the healthcare service we provide.
17.3 We reserve the right to terminate an appointment and call for police assistance if deemed necessary if we have any concerns about the welfare of our staff or patients.
17.4 We also reserve the right to prohibit a patient from using our Services if they are involved in any of the behaviours outlined above, or any other concerning or abusive behaviour.
17.5 The Doctor may refuse to provide appointments if they believe that there is the potential for misuse of Services, if they feel that their life may in any way be threatened or jeopardised, or as otherwise required by law or reasonable medical ethics concerns.
- LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
18.1 Nothing in these Terms and Conditions excludes or limits our liability for death or personal injury arising from our negligence, or our fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or any other liability that cannot be excluded or limited by law.
18.2 We are not responsible for compensating you for loss or damage that is not a foreseeable result of breaking these Terms and Conditions. Nor will we be liable under any circumstances for indirect, incidental, special or consequential damages or any business losses.
18.3 You accept that it is your responsibility to ensure that the patient details and medical history provided for your consultation are accurate and up to date. The Doctor shall not have any responsibility for incorrect medication prescribed, advice given or treatment provided due to inaccurate or incomplete information provided by you.
18.4 The contract for our Services is between you and us, and no-one else. Only you can enforce that agreement against us.
- OTHER LIMITS ON OUR SERVICES
19.1 Doctors may hold different clinical opinions on the same medical condition or symptoms and provided these opinions are reasonably held, the fact that two or more Doctors give different opinions in the course of providing any Services does not necessarily indicate that our Services are defective.
19.2 Any laboratory test is sent to an external laboratory. The external laboratories are separate entities from us and to the extent permitted by law we disclaim any liability for any acts or omissions of these external laboratories.
Complaints Policy
Complaints Policy
Policy statement
Receiving feedback and responding to complaints is an important part of improving Fetal Medicine UK’s accountability. Ensuring our staff and patients can hold us to account will improve the quality of our work in all areas.
Scope
This policy applies to Fetal Medicine UK. A complaint can be made by any supporter, partner organisation, community, or individual with whom we work, or any member of the public whether an individual, company, or other entity, in the UK.
Definitions
A complaint is an expression of dissatisfaction about the standards of service, actions, or lack of action, by Fetal Medicine UK or its staff and associated personnel. It is a criticism that expects a reply and would like things to be changed. Complaints could include the following (which is not an exhaustive list):
- Concern from someone we work with about the quality of programme delivery.
- Concern from a member of the public or supporter about a particular approach or campaign action.
- Concern about the behaviour of staff or associated personnel.
A complaint has to be about some action for which Fetal Medicine UK is responsible or is within our sphere of influence.
A complaint is not:
- A general inquiry about Fetal Medicine UK’s work
- A request for information
- A contractual dispute
- A request to amend records e.g. to correct an address
The complaints procedures do not apply to complaints that are subject to the current investigation by any regulatory body or other legal or official authorities in the UK. Such issues will be dealt with by the relevant regulatory body.
Procedures for making a complaint
It is hoped that most complaints or concerns about Fetal Medicine UK’s work or behaviour can and will be dealt with informally by staff at a local level. However, it is recognised that not all issues can be resolved in this way and that a formal complaints mechanism is required for those occasions when an individual or organisation wishes to make their complaint a matter of record and to receive a formal response.
We work in conjunction with the Independent Doctors Association which, if the complaint is not satisfactorily dealt with at a local level, would be referred to them. Should a further level be required we also use a third tier of support for complaints, using Independent Sector Complaints Adjudication Service.
How to make a complaint
All formal complaints should be made in writing to Fetal Medicine UK either directly from the individual or organisation making the complaint or via someone acting on their behalf. See below for details about to whom to address a complaint.
Who can make a complaint?
A complaint can be made by:
- Any supporter
- Partner organisation
- Community or individual with whom we work
- Any member of the public whether an individual, company or other entity in the UK.
Who is not covered by this policy?
Complaints by staff are governed by Fetal Medicine UK’s procedures for dealing with problems in the workplace. Complaints relating to serious incidents such as fraud and corruption or safeguarding concerns will be dealt with through the relevant policy and procedures.
Who to make the complaint to
Email To:
Mr David G Penman, Consultant Fetal Medicine Specialist – gynae2000@gmail.com
Or contact Helen, Mr Penman’s PA on 07880701732/helenfmu@gmail.com
The complaint is forwarded appropriately depending on the level required.
