Review Appointments Policy

The majority of our patients require one or more review (follow-up) appointments. These appointments are an important part of your ongoing care. They allow your doctor to assess your current condition, monitor your progress, evaluate your response to treatment or a procedure, review results and decide what further management is appropriate.

A review appointment relates to the condition or concerns discussed at your initial consultation. It is also required where there has been a change in your condition, new information has become available, further clinical questions have arisen, or continued prescription treatment is needed.

Review appointments may be required shortly after your first consultation — sometimes within a week — or several weeks or months later, depending on your condition and treatment plan. If your skin or hair condition is active, changing or requires close monitoring, regular reviews may be required, including weekly or fortnightly appointments.

Your doctor will advise when your next review is due, usually in your clinic report. You are responsible for arranging the appointment within the recommended timeframe. As appointments can be booked several weeks in advance, we recommend booking promptly. The current fee for review appointments is available here.

When is a review appointment required?

Many conditions evolve over time. One appointment may not be sufficient to confirm a diagnosis, assess the response to treatment or complete your care. A further review appointment is required in the following circumstances:

  • 1. Treatment monitoring and prescription renewal
    • You have been prescribed medication that requires monitoring for effectiveness, side effects or safety.
    • Your medication may need to be continued, stopped, adjusted or changed.
    • You require further prescription medication.
    • You require assessment of blood tests or other monitoring associated with your medication.
  • 2. Ongoing or changing skin or hair conditions
    • Your condition is still being assessed and a diagnosis has not yet been confirmed.
    • Your condition has not improved or has worsened despite treatment.
    • Your condition has flared, changed, fluctuated or recurred.
    • Your condition is ongoing and requires periodic medical review.
  • 3. Further questions, discussion or support
    • You would like to go through your condition or treatment plan again.
    • You have further clinical questions or require additional medical advice.
    • You wish to discuss another treatment option.
    • You wish to discuss advice or recommendations given by another healthcare practitioner.
  • 4.  Results and procedure planning
    • You require clinical interpretation or discussion of blood tests, scans, pathology results or other investigations.
    • You are considering a procedure, such as a biopsy, excision or laser treatment, and require further assessment or planning.
    • You have undergone a procedure and require a doctor to assess your recovery, healing or outcome.
  • 5. Side effects, reactions or deterioration
    • You have developed a side effect or reaction to treatment.
    • Your condition has deteriorated and you require medical advice.
    • You are concerned about a possible complication.
  • 6. Following a surgical or laser procedure
    • A review appointment may form part of the treatment plan following a surgical or laser procedure. What is included in your procedure fee will be confirmed before treatment.
  • 7. New concerns, treatments, questions or results
    • New concerns, changes in your condition, new test results, further clinical questions and requests to consider a different or additional treatment require a further appointment.
    • These matters cannot be assessed or managed as a continuation of a previous appointment or through administrative correspondence.

Why can’t my prescription simply be renewed?

Where continued treatment is planned, medication is prescribed during a consultation for a fixed, pre-planned period. The quantity prescribed is intended to last until the next agreed review point advised by your doctor. This review point is identified in your clinic report.

Further medication will only be prescribed following a review appointment at which your doctor is professionally obliged to reassess your current condition, response to treatment, side effects, dosage and any required monitoring.

A prescription renewal is not a routine administrative repeat. Your doctor has a professional responsibility to confirm that continued treatment remains safe, effective and appropriate. Prescribing will not continue where a required review, blood test or other safety check has not been completed.

What if my treatment has not worked?

Skin and hair conditions do not always respond to treatment, whether that be medication, laser or surgery. A limited response, flare or recurrence does not necessarily mean that the original diagnosis or treatment was incorrect. It means that your doctor must reassess your current condition before deciding whether treatment should be continued, adjusted, changed or stopped.

This reassessment is a further clinical service. A review appointment is therefore required and the applicable review fee is charged.

What if I have developed a side effect or reaction?

Recognised side effects and adverse reactions can occur even where a treatment has been correctly selected and prescribed. If you experience a side effect, reaction or unexpected change, you must arrange a review appointment so that your doctor can assess your current condition and advise you safely on the nex steps.

Further clinical advice, changes to treatment or additional prescriptions will not be provided by email instead of an appointment.

If you believe you may be experiencing a serious reaction or complication, contact the clinic promptly. We may provide immediate safety or emergency signposting, but any clinical assessment or ongoing management will require an appropriate appointment.

For urgent or severe symptoms, do not wait for an appointment or email response. Contact your GP, NHS 111 or 999, as appropriate.

How soon will I need to return?

A review appointment may be required:

  • within 1–2 weeks after starting a new treatment or undergoing a procedure;
  • after several weeks or months, depending on your condition and treatment plan; or
  • regularly, including weekly or fortnightly, where your condition is active or requires close monitoring.

Your doctor will advise the appropriate review timeframe in your clinic report. You are responsible for arranging the appointment within that timeframe.

Please note that a recommendation to attend a review does not mean your condition is being monitored by the clinic between appointments. Unless we have specifically booked the review for you, it remains your responsibility to arrange and attend it within the recommended timeframe, and we will not automatically contact you when a review becomes due.

Existing patient status

If more than 12 months have passed since your last appointment, you will be required to book a new initial consultation so that your doctor can obtain an up-to-date history and reassess your condition properly.

If you require more time than a standard review appointment allows, please request an extended review appointment when booking.

What is included after a surgical or laser procedure?

Review after a surgical or laser procedure may be an important part of the treatment plan. It allows healing and treatment outcomes to be assessed and any further management to be planned.

What is included in your procedure fee will be explained before treatment and confirmed in your treatment information or written quotation.

  • Included: written aftercare instructions and up to two wound checks, dressing changes or stitch-removal appointments with a non-physician medical assistant.
  • Not included unless expressly confirmed in writing beforehand: assessment by a doctor of a healing problem, suspected infection, complication, scarring, asymmetry, recurrence, pathology result, new concern or request for further treatment.

A doctor’s assessment of any of these matters requires a separate review appointment and is charged at the applicable review rate, unless that specific medical review was expressly confirmed in writing as included in the procedure fee.

Can I have a video or telephone review?

Video or telephone review appointments are available only where the clinic considers a remote consultation clinically appropriate. Further information on remote consultations can be found here.

A face-to-face appointment is required where physical examination, clinical photography, testing, measurement, treatment or an in-person safety assessment is needed.

Can I have an email consultation?

No. We do not provide consultations, clinical assessments or clinical advice by email. Email may be used only for straightforward administrative matters.

Sending an email, photograph, document or test result does not constitute a consultation, does not mean that the information has been clinically assessed and does not place your condition under ongoing monitoring between appointments.

Further questions, new information, changes in your condition, treatment concerns, requests for medical advice and requests for prescription medication require a review appointment.

Clinical advice will not be provided by email instead of an appointment.

Can I see my GP instead?

Yes. You may choose to seek further care from your GP or another healthcare provider.

If you have given permission and provided accurate GP contact details, we will send a copy of your clinic correspondence to your GP so that your NHS record can be updated.

We cannot guarantee that your GP will prescribe medication recommended privately, arrange monitoring requested by a private clinician or make a referral to an NHS service. These decisions remain entirely at the discretion of your GP and the relevant NHS service.

Is there a charge for a review appointment?

Yes. Each appointment is a single, defined session of care. The appointment fee covers the clinical work undertaken during that appointment only.

Any subsequent clinical assessment, advice, discussion, review of new information, prescription renewal, treatment decision or further management requires another appointment and is charged separately at the applicable rate.

One or more review appointments may therefore be required as part of your care. You should take the likely time and cost of further appointments into account when deciding whether to proceed with private treatment.

Tests, procedures, medicines and further treatment are charged separately unless expressly confirmed otherwise in writing. Current prices are available on our fees and terms page.

How do I make a review appointment?

You can arrange a review appointment by telephoning or emailing the practice.

When contacting us, please state:

  • the name of the clinician you previously saw;
  • the reason for the review;
  • when your doctor advised you to return; and
  • whether you are requesting a face-to-face or remote appointment.

A remote appointment will be arranged only where the clinic considers this clinically appropriate.

If your preferred appointment is unavailable, we can add you to our cancellation list and contact you if an earlier appointment becomes available.

I do not wish to continue with private care. Can I transfer to the NHS?

We are a private clinic and cannot transfer your care directly to the NHS. We cannot advise you about NHS referral criteria, service availability or waiting times.

If you wish to continue your care within the NHS, you should contact your GP. Your GP will decide whether an NHS referral or treatment is appropriate under the applicable local criteria.

You can read more about how private treatment may affect your NHS care here.

Emotional difficulties following a diagnosis or consultation

If you are experiencing emotional difficulties following your consultation or diagnosis, we can provide contact details for a psychologist who may be able to offer assessment and support.

Further information about managing emotional distress, including support organisations and self-help resources, is available here.

Contact us

To arrange a review appointment, telephone Midland Skin on 0121 285 4540.