If you are self paying, you should ensure that the price you
are quoted following your consultation at the hospital is the price you will
pay for the agreed treatment - even if your stay needs to be longer than
planned for any clinical reason. You
should also check that the price guarantee applies to any tests or treatment
for any complication related to your original procedure within a set number of days
of discharge from the hospital.
As a private paying customer, patients should expect a
guaranteed hospital admission date, consultant surgeon, clinical staff, medical
equipment and first class facilities, all of which should meet quality
standards. You should expect the
certainty of a guaranteed, inclusive price that has no hidden extras.
Check the provider’s philosophy of care - their commitment
to you. A provider’s care philosophy
should include a commitment that you will be cared for in a safe environment,
that your details will be maintained in confidence, that you can seek a second
opinion if you wish and so on. If you
feel that these promises are not met, say so.
There are no
guarantees regarding the outcome of an operation, and this is especially true
for cosmetic surgery where the results vary with each individual and the
perceived goal could be very different from the attainable goal. However, one guarantee a patient CAN ask for
is that if a complication should arise, the surgeon will correct it without
additional fees.
