I never anticipated this. There again nobody did.
In all my years of running a private medical practice, at no time did I consider a UK wide lockdown.
The only “emergency” situation I planned for was for a client to be unable to practice due to breaking his leg!
Seriously.
I called it my “Bust leg” scenario.
In essence, it assumed the consultant couldn’t physically journey to a hospital.
In such a situation, the only thing you could do was conduct electronic consultations. That may be by telephone or Skype etc.
New patient numbers would fall off a cliff but at least follow-up consultations would be conducted.
I actually had to arrange this once. The consultant fell over and broke his ankle. So we arranged for telephone and Skype consultations.
It worked and worked well.
It never occurred to me though that a UK wide shutdown would not only prevent a patient from attending a hospital but they were too scared to leave their own homes.
Immediate requirement
So the very first thing I did when the shutdown came into force was speak to every single private medical insurance company.
The reasons are obvious.
I wanted to make sure all MHM clients were able to hold and get paid for electronic consultations.
I’m pleased to say most already were and with the support of insurance companies, all the remaining ones were immediately allowed to follow suit.
And Then What?
It’s easier to say what was NOT next.
Absolutely not a debate on how long the shutdown would last.
There was and still is no point because only the Government can decide how long.
The second item was to alter the view a private practice was closed. Only one of my clients actually closed. She did so for the most unfortunate of reasons. She was diagnosed positive for this xxx bug.
The most important requirement was to make sure patients – existing or potential – knew or could easily establish, the practice was NOT closed.
MHM isn’t closed either!
It may have moved from Hilton Hall to temporary offices.
But it’s still here.
I just love the concept of temporary offices though because, in reality, it’s now operating from my “home office”
Otherwise known as the spare bedroom.
#UpsYoursCovid-19!!
pete@medicalhealthcaremanagement.co.uk