Where do you search for a private consultant?

[DeepTalkInTheShallowEnd]

My GP made an "urgent" (not the 2 week urgent timescale) referral to see a urologist and I booked the earliest available appointment at what seemed to be the hospital with the shortest waiting time - I can't remember the figure they quote before you book but it was something like "average wait time" - it says something like 6 days. The easiest appointment is the very end of February: I was hoping for something a bit sooner but I'm well aware of the pressure the NHS is under. I was thinking of looking for a private consultation but how do you go about finding who best to see - Google reviews for the local private hospital (which is the first one everyone thinks of around here) are actually pretty bad recently and a friend was the first to suggest it be avoided. There is the doctify site - is that trustworthy? I'm suspicious of other consultants "recommending" each other. I don't really know anyone that I'd want to discuss my medical situation with so I've not got any people to bounce this off.

My understanding is that doctify is a paid service, so consultants have to sign up to it and pay a subscription fee. Not all will bother.
I want great care website is good, though I think most reviews are by NHS rather than private patients.

I look on Bupa website, local private hospital websites and do a Google search.
Often you will see the same consultant privately.
Also I look at their special interests. For a woman I would try to see a urogynaecologist or someone who mentions chronic UTIs and female urinary leakage.
for a man try for someone who mentions prostate a lot.

We only have on private hospital locally so I just went through this website, read the staff profiles, did a bit of research (they all seem to also work locally for the NHS), had a short list in my head then rang up and the receptionist also advised which might be best to see and who had availability.

I use doctify as they only get verified patients as reviewers.

Have a look on the websites of your local trust and the closest neighbouring ones. Find the lists of the consultants in those trusts.
Then google each one to see if and where they do private practice (not all do) and what there particular interests are.
Then if you find one you want to see, look up their private secretary's contact details.
The advantage of doing this is that you have the possibility of moving back into the NHS with the same consultant.

If I could I would ask my GP for a recommendation.
If that wasn't an option I would look at the local private hospital's website and see who was a available. I would look at their special interests and make a short short list. I would check that they worked for the NHS in a similar role. If all was ok I would phone my preferred doctor's secretary to make an appointment.