Seeing a private psychiatrist

[ToastAndChocolate]

Hi all, I have been suffering from anxiety for a while and recently sought advice from my GP as I'm struggling at the moment. She was lovely and wrote me up a referral letter, which she then printed off and popped in an envelope. I haven't ever been referred to a specialist before, neither NHS nor privately, so not sure if this is the normal procedure! To be honest I was expecting it to be in an email format which then went directly to the specialist. Instead, the letter is fairly generic. I think it's addressed "dear colleague".

I'm not quite sure what I'm meant to do now! Although I felt my GP did listen I was somewhat rushed out of the room as she was running extremely behind on that particular day. I contacted my private healthcare provider who said I need to have an appointment with a psychiatrist. I know it sounds so silly but I have zero experience with this sort of thing I asked them to please tell me the next steps. They just reiterated that I need to "get booked in with a consultant psychiatrist".

How do I go about finding a psychiatrist? I've not got a clue. Additionally I'm not sure if I need to be informing my GP of any of this. I understand that I need to inform my healthcare provider as they will deal with costs. I just don't want to do anything wrong as I can't afford to get stuck with the private fees - all this is causing me anxiety in itself which probably wasn't the desired effect

Huge huge thanks in advance for any help you can offer

Surely they must be members of some association, have you tried to Google for information and see if you can find some such association? Not much help, have no personal experience, but I think that's how I'd do it.

The process depends a lot on who you're with - they should have instructions on their website.

Generally though, in my experience with several providers, it's great you already have the "open" referral letter from your GP. That allows you to go to any appropriate doctor that is recognised by your insurer. Your best bet is to go to the website of your insurer and they will, somewhere, have a "locate a specialist" page. You can then search by area/specialty etc.

If you have recommendations (sometimes a Google will reveal people who are well thought of) you can also see if they're covered by your insurer too.

Once you have somebody in mind, you contact your insurer, you will probably need to show them the letter (a scan/copy should be fine). They'll give you a claims code for an initial appointment.

You then book an appointment with the psychiatrist usually via their private secretary and give them the claims code. And that's it! After that, if you need extra appointments/tests etc, the secretary should be able to guide you. You will always need to get a new claim code for anything not covered.

Some insurers will find a specialist for you and even book the appointment if you prefer. Axa/PPP is one of those if you have an open referral.

Good luck - this is something I'm going through at the moment too.

PS - watch out for "outpatient cover". Many policies only cover you for the first £X of outpatients, which would usually cover psychiatrists. It is stupidly easy to go over that limit especially with tests done, as often it's not set very high.

hi OP

did you actually want to see a psychiatrist? I have anxiety/depression but no private health cover, so I was given meds, excellent care by the GP and also a referral to local mental health services who assessed me for any further needs. They found there was no need for counselling etc, something I agreed with it, but sent me on CBT because that's what they do.

I can't help thinking that you have been automatically directed to a psychiatrist because it's covered on your private health - but is it what you wanted and do you think it's necessary? My concern is that the private health sector might just see it as a way to make money from you. I know some people will say "if you have the opportunity to see one, that's good" but I didn't feel my issues were severe enough to warrant seeing one.