How we work with doctors
at HCA UK at University College Hospital

Services and Partnerships with doctors

• Low-value services icon plus

  The following low-value services are provided free-of-charge to referring clinicians with practising privileges at HCA facilities:
  
  

  • General services to ensure appropriate clinical care (such as in-house training, chaperones)
  • Workplace amenities (e.g. free/subsidised tea and coffee including for patients, on-site meals, stationery)
  • General marketing (such as general promotional events, consultant directories and internet profiles)

  Car Parking:
  Some HCA UK facilities have (or have access to) car parking spaces. Where these spaces are made available to doctors, it is on a first-come, first-served basis. Where spaces are made available to staff and/or doctors, HCA does not charge for these.

   

• Higher-value services icon plus

  Secretarial and administrative services:
  HCA sometimes employs medical secretaries to liaise with patients, deal with correspondence, make appointments and handle patients’ enquiries on doctors’ behalf. Sometimes, medical secretaries work for more than one doctor. They help to manage complex processes such as payroll, making administration efficient both for doctors and – most importantly – our patients. Medical secretarial services are made available on a non-discriminatory basis and on equivalent terms in accordance with the CMA Order. We charge doctors for using this service at Fair Market Value (FMV).

  HCA charges the following (inclusive of VAT) for secretarial and administrative services:

  Facility	Hourly rate charged by HCA (£)
  HCA UK at University College Hospital	24.00

    

  Consulting rooms:
  HCA UK considers that doctors must be able to see our patients without delay, and in close proximity to our diagnostic and treatment facilities. In order to achieve this, we licence our consulting rooms to doctors at Fair Market Value on an hourly or sessional basis at market rates, which we determine by calculating the rent we pay to landlords plus overheads (including rates, services charges, utilities). Consulting rooms are made available on a non-discriminatory basis and on equivalent terms in accordance with the Order.

  HCA charges the following (exclusive of VAT) for consulting rooms:

  Facility	Hourly rate charged by HCA (£)
  HCA UK at University College Hospital	17.50

• Events icon plus

  HCA UK provides general corporate hospitality and social events (such as Christmas parties) for staff and doctors. Such hospitality is proportionate and reasonable and is not provided by HCA UK with the intention of inducing referrals or rewarding the referring clinician for making or having made referrals to HCA UK.

  Since 1 January 2023, this Hospital has hosted the following Events:

  • The HCA UK at University College Hospital annual winter party in November 2023 costing £169.35 for each invited guest.

• Equity participation icon plus

  This facility does not operate any joint ventures with referring clinicians.

• Referring clinicians who also hold other positions at HCA UK icon plus

  A number of doctors provide us with clinical guidance on how to deliver the best possible care to patients and run our hospitals safely and efficiently. We pay those doctors for this service at Fair Market Value (FMV) and we use an independent company to provide assurance around our FMV calculations.
  

  Many of these doctors work at more than one HCA facility. For ease of reference, therefore, you can find more information on any such medical advisory positions (including payments made by HCA to the doctor) on your doctor’s HCA biography webpage.