Frequently asked questions

Private GP Lincs offers similar services to the NHS but also provides a wide range of diagnostic tests and appointment flexibility. We can spend more time with you, helping you decide on your care and offer continuity of care so you can see the same doctor.

We provide all services a normal GP practice would, but in a calmer, patient-centred environment. This includes face-to-face, telephone, and video consultations, home visits, diagnostic testing (blood tests, x-rays, scans, ECGs, etc.), health screening checks, and treatments. We do not prescribe “controlled treatment” or treatment requiring specialist monitoring. For more details, see "our services."

There are many benefits, including choosing the GP you want to see regardless of where you live, usually getting an appointment the same day, longer appointments, more personal service, and rapid test results.

A dedicated and valued member of the clinical and administrative team who is here to ensure that your care always comes first. Our Clinical Concierge is on hand to provide face to face care, to support you with any appointments, follow-ups or onward referrals and queries or concerns that you may have.

Whilst our clinical concierge is an administrative support to our wonderful reception team, they are also clinically trained to perform tasks such as Phlebotomy, ECGs, Patient Health Checks, Blood Pressures, administration of injections and various other clinical tasks to support you in your important health journey.

Private GP Lincs aims to be open from Monday to Friday 16:00 until 20:30 and Saturdays from 10:00 until 16:00.  

Private GP Lincs, 66 Upgate, Louth, Lincolnshire, LN11 9HD

Telephone - 01507 308820 ext 206

No. If you have never visited Private GP Lincs, you will receive a registration form when book an appointment online. Please note that patients cannot book appointments with a GP that may work within their registered NHS practice. This is due to NHS rules which prohibit NHS doctors providing non-NHS consultations to their registered patients.

To register, you must complete a simple registration form and a health questionnaire at the time of booking. Registration is free, and forms are available via email, our website, or can be completed upon arrival at the clinic.

Private GP Lincs appointments and fees are non-refundable and therefore we urge you only to schedule appointments that you can attend. Should you feel that there are exceptional circumstances as to why you cannot/did not attend please contact us at hello@privategplincs.co.uk

You will not be permitted to reschedule less than 72 hours before your appointment, and the number of changes is limited to three in any calendar year. Any attempts to reschedule within 72 hours prior to your appointment will be deemed as non-refundable. Please contact us at hello@privategplincs.co.uk. This will provide the practice time to release any slots back into the appointment system to provide an opportunity for others to book.  

We aim to make appointments available six weeks in advance, but this will vary depending on demand and clinician availability.

We recommend a 40-minute first appointment to provide a comprehensive background history. Subsequent appointments are usually 20 minutes, but you can book longer if needed.

If more time is required during your consultation, we will endeavor to make this available or rebook you for a later consultation. Longer consultations will be charged as per our appointment fees schedule.

We do not provide a walk-in service; please book your appointment online. We also do not provide a service for medical emergencies. For emergencies, dial 111 or 999, or visit your local Accident and Emergency Department.

Yes, we perform various medicals, including fit-for-work, firearms licensing, occupational health assessments, and driver’s license medicals. Contact our Clinical Concierge for specific requests.

Patients are expected to arrive in good time for their appointment.

• If patients arrive more than 10 minutes late, they have missed their appointment and will need to rebook
• This is to prevent delays to the doctors’ sessions and to ensure fairness for patients who have arrived on time

We appreciate the effort our patients make to attend on time and therefore do our best to run as close to booked appointment times as possible. Adhering to a Late Patient Policy assists us in doing so. However, due to the nature of a GP surgery, sometimes the doctor or nurse may be running behind. When the clinician is running late our reception staff will advise the patients upon arrival and apologise to them for the delay.

When a patient is less than 10 minutes late:

The receptionist or clinical concierge will book the patient in but advise them they are late for their appointment and remind them that they must attend on time in the future.

When a patient is 10 or more minutes late:

Patients who arrive 10 or more minutes late have therefore missed their appointment. The receptionist will advise them to rebook a new routine appointment at an additional cost. PGPL has a non-refundable policy.

If the patient indicates that there is a medically urgent reason, they need to see a doctor that day, the receptionist can ask the reason and call an ambulance if deemed a medical emergency.

Further Information:

If the doctor has an urgent clinical need to see a particular patient, they will advise reception or clinical concierge in advance that the patient may be "arrived" even if they arrive more than 10 minutes late. The patient will need to wait for a gap or the end of the surgery to be seen.

If a patient calls ahead to say they will be late, this does not alter the policy. If they are going to be late, the receptionist or clinical concierge will advise them on the phone that they should rebook, rather than waste a journey. They should also be notified that the appointment fess is non- refundable.

Receptionists and clinical concierges are not permitted to interrupt doctors during practice to request them to see late patients, so to avoid disappointment, please do not ask them to do

Please visit our fees page for a full breakdown of costs.

Health insurance policies vary widely, so please consult with your insurance provider prior to booking your appointment. You should receive a receipt at the time of booking; however, should you require further information, please contact hello@privategplincs.co.uk

Payment is by credit or debit card only. Payments are processed through our online payment portal when booking online or at the clinic.

No, unfortunately Private GP Lincs does not allow payment plans.

Contact us at hello@PrivateGPLincs.co.uk, and we will investigate the progress of your referral.

Yes, we can make referrals to both private and NHS specialists. Our doctors will advise on the best specialist, and our Clinical Concierges will help you through the process.

Yes, we provide treatments; however, the cost will be determined by the pharmacy. All treatments will be generated and sent electronically. Please note, we are unable to send treatments via email or print to paper. This is to mitigate GDPR breaches.

Your NHS GP is under no obligation to prescribe medication we recommend. They may re-assess you and recommend a different course of treatment.

No, Private GP Lincs does not prescribe controlled treatments.

No, these treatments require regular monitoring by both specialists and GPs and are better suited to NHS systems.

We can provide repeat treatments for medications we have initiated. If initiated by another practice, we require written documentation for our doctor to review.

Yes, we can organise blood, urine, and faeces tests. We will inform you of the laboratory fees before performing any test. Follow-up appointments to discuss results will be arranged at a cost of £60 per ten minutes.

No, fasting is not required before a cholesterol blood test, though it may be advised in some cases.

Registering at Private GP Lincs does not affect your NHS GP registration. We recommend maintaining your NHS registration.

You can choose whether we inform your NHS GP about our discussions. We encourage it for continuity of care, but there are some circumstances where we must inform other organizations (e.g., communicable diseases, safety concerns).

Sharing information with your NHS GP helps avoid gaps in understanding your health. It’s important to keep your NHS GP updated, especially if there’s a significant change to your health or a new long-term medication is prescribed.

No, due to the guidance provided by the NHS, if a GP works within your NHS surgery, as well as the Private GP Lincs, you would not be able to see them privately within the Private GP Lincs.

Private GP Lincs follows strict confidentiality and privacy policies. Our medical records system, Semble, has a fully accredited security infrastructure to keep your details secure. We do not share your data without your permission.

We use an online system called Semble, which is not linked to NHS records. We will ask you to provide your medical history, allergies, medications, and family history during your first consultation.

We welcome feedback to help shape our services. Please speak to a team member or email us. If you have a complaint or concern, please contact hello@PrivateGPLincs.co.uk. We take complaints seriously and will work with you to understand and improve our services.

Private GP Lincs is registered through the Care Quality Commissioning body.

For non-urgent enquiries, call us during our opening hours, or send an email to hello@privategplincs.co.uk and we will respond as soon as possible. For urgent medical attention, use NHS 111, call 999, or go to your local Accident and Emergency Department.

When to use 111:

Use NHS 111 if you urgently need medical help or advice but it’s not life-threatening. Call 111 if:

• You need medical help fast but it’s not a 999 emergency.
• You think you need to go to A&E or need another NHS urgent care service.
• You don’t know who to call.
• You need health information or reassurance about what to do next.

Emergency appointments - please contact an NHS emergency service if you have a medical emergency

Walk-in appointments - alternatively, please book appointments online

Minor and cosmetic surgery - we can advise you on local providers who can perform minor and cosmetic surgery

Treatment of substance misuse - our clinicians are not experts in substance misuse but can signpost you to services which can support you

Specialist treatments - we will not prescribe controlled treatments or treatment which requires specialist monitoring

Sick notes - we can provide advice about fitness for work, and we can provide fit notes to support return to work.