Best Foot and Ankle Surgeon in London
Choosing the best foot and ankle surgeons in London or anywhere in the world, is not an easy task. In my feature on how to choose the best ankle and foot surgeon in London I provided you with tips on how to search for the best ankle and foot surgeon in London for you. When you find the right surgeon, preparing for your initial meeting is important and you will need to make sure certain information is available to the surgeon at the time of the appointment to enable you to get the best outcome. In this article I cover the information your specialist will require to ensure you get the most out of the consultation. If you would like to read about questions you can ask a surgeon when you meet them please click here.
Referral Letter
Your past medical records will NOT be available to your surgeon unless you have arranged them to be sent through either through a referral letter or by sending them yourself. Your general practitioner (GP) is the person that knows about your past medical history and this is extremely important information that your specialist will need in order to be able to ensure that the treatment they recommend fits in to your own personal circumstances. Therefore, asking your GP for a referral letter is a good way to ensure any relevant information is known to your surgeon. Indeed you GP may also know who the best foot and ankle surgeon in London is for you to see. This may include medication, allergies and past illnesses or operations. Although it may not seem relevant to you, and indeed you may wish not to cloud the opinion with the past information, I cannot stress how important that this information may sometimes be. For example if you have a pacemaker, then you may not be able to have an MRI and if you have an allergy to eggs, then it may well be that a certain anaesthetic drugs cannot be used. Of course a surgeon should be able to ask you all the relevant questions when they see you, but it is a lot more streamlined if they have that information to hand so they can concentrate on the problem in hand when speaking with you. If you are being referred by a specialist then the referring specialist is likely to have already sent a copy of the relevant medical records to the receiving surgeon but it is always worth checking this in advance.
Your Imaging including X-rays and scans
When seeking a second opinion past imaging such as Xrays, MRI or CT scans may be a very important part of the puzzle to help your surgeon reach a diagnosis and recommendation for you.
Over the last 10 years pioneers of technology like Apple Computers founder, Steve Jobs have worked hard at eliminating disc drives from computers. Nonetheless patients are often still provided with DVD’s of their imaging to take to another specialist. Firstly many computers nowadays do not have disc drives any more, and also because of the sheer size of medical images specialist software is required to view images and often there are compatibility issues between hospitals who have secure firewalls blocking the opening of a disc taken at another hospital. Therefore, it is not uncommon to take a disc to a specialist and for them to be unable to open it which simply wastes your time and theirs at an appointment where you want to focus on your particular issue rather than on computer issues.
I therefore, strongly recommend that you arrange in advance of your appointment that the images are sent directly from hospital to hospital by something called Image Link which is a secure internal network that connects almost all hospitals, NHS and Private in the UK. It can take a few days for the sending hospital to upload scans and for the receiving hospital to download them to your records so its important that you try and arrange this in advance or ask the surgeon’s secretary or assistant to help you do this as nothing is more frustrating for you and your surgeon than when imaging is not available and you need to come back another day to obtain a recommendation.
Clinical Photographs
Nowadays clinical images are an essential part of your clinical record. This may include photographs taken during past surgery (such as keyhole arthroscopy images) or pictures of how you looked before the previous surgery or how swollen and bruised your ankle was after you sprained it. If these images need to be shared with your treating surgeon or doctor, you will need to provide consent for them to hold your images and a commitment that they will store them safely and securely in your medical records. Nowadays there are specialist Apps, such as FotoConsent that ensure safe, GDPR compliant sharing of clinical photographs and clinical images.
Medical Insurance Details
If you are seeking a private opinion and have private medical insurance, always contact your insurer before your consultation to check the terms of your policy, particularly the level and type of outpatient cover you have, including any reimbursement limits on individual consultation fees. You may or may not have insurance which covers all of the costs of the appointment. The costs of investigations or inpatient admissions are usually separate and in addition to any consultation fees and it is really essential that you are made aware of any costs before you incur them
I hope these tips will help ensure that you can optimise the time allotted for your appointment and make your visit efficient. So whether you are searching for the best foot and ankle surgeon in London, the best ankle surgeon in the world or just for reassurance that you are doing the right thing, a bit of time spent on preparation will save you a lot of time in the end.
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