How we work with doctors at The Harborne Hospital
The CMA Order
In October 2014, the Competition and Markets Authority ("CMA") published the Private Healthcare Market Investigation Order 2014 (the "CMA Order"). The CMA Order requires private hospital operators (such as HCA UK) to disclose on their websites certain information relating to the way the private hospitals interact with referring clinicians; that is a clinician that has practising privileges and/or has the ability to refer patients for treatment or tests at a private hospital.
Full details about the investigation and the Order can be found on the CMA web page: here. The information disclosed on this page is supplied in accordance with the Private Healthcare Market Investigation Order 2014.
It is important that HCA is transparent about our relationship with doctors and we therefore set out below some of the ways in which we work together.
We would welcome your feedback on the way this information has been presented. Please contact us by email using the link here.
This information disclosed on this page is supplied in accordance with the Private Healthcare Market Investigation Order 2014.
This facility does not operate any joint ventures with referring clinicians.
On occasion, HCA UK provides general corporate hospitality at social events to which doctors are invited (such as Christmas parties) or educational events (such as service line demonstrations or symposia). 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. It is important that we are transparent about the frequency and cost of these events. In all cases, the stated cost includes food and drink (where this cost is paid by HCA to an external party), plus the cost of hiring any non-HCA venue used. Where it is sensible to do so (e.g. a dinner) we will typically publish the cost per attendee; but where the total cost is fixed irrespective of attendees, we will normally state the number of people invited to the event.
Since 1 January 2023, this Hospital has hosted the following Events:
- An event for consultants with dinner in November 2024. The total cost of this event was £17,766. 125 people attended this event.
- A dinner after the Harborne Orthopaedics Study Day in October 2024. The total cost of this event was £3,000. 50 people were invited to this event.
- A networking event for local healthcare professionals in April 2024. The total cost for this event was £2,610. 62 people attended this event.
- A networking event in April 2024 costing £42.10 for each guest.
- A dinner in November 2023 for the members of the Harborne Hospital’s Medical Advisory Committee (MAC) costing £116.31 for each guest.
- An event in November 2023 celebrating the opening of the Hospital costing £75.43 for each guest.
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 (£) |
| The Harborne Hospital | 19.00 |
A full time medical secretary service (where provided) is charged as 1875 hours per year.
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 license our consulting rooms to doctors and other referring clinicians on an hourly basis at fair market value which we estimate by reference to the cost of equivalent services in the same geographical locality.
Consulting rooms are made available on a non-discriminatory basis and on equivalent terms in accordance with the Private Healthcare Market Investigation Order 2014.
HCA charges the following (inclusive of VAT) for consulting rooms:
| Facility | Hourly rate charged by HCA (£) |
| The Harborne Hospital | 22.50 |
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)
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.
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.