Meet your consultant before you get to hospital at www.bupahospitals.co.uk

 

June 2001

 

If you need to find accurate and up to date informationabout how to access consultants and hospitals privately, as well as health andcare services, you can now visit www.bupahospitals.co.uk.BUPA Hospitals' new website offers patients the opportunity to find out abouttheir consultant before going to hospital. The website also helps patients tohave an informed discussion with their GP about consultants to whom they may bereferred. Each BUPA hospital's web page shows details of each consultant'sclinical experience, as well as their specialty and the treatments they offer.

 

The new facility at www.bupahospitals.co.uk isinnovative and easy to use. Simply select the 'find a consultant' option on thehomepage. Visitors are given the option to search for a specific consultant orthose of a particular specialty at any hospital. If you don't know your nearestBUPA hospital, you can also search using your town or postcode details. Thesearch results provide details of a specific consultant or a list ofconsultants at any BUPA hospital from a database of over 3,000.

 

By clicking a consultant's name, patients are providedwith a detailed profile of them. Some consultants have developed their ownwebsites offering further information and links to these are also provided.

 

Harriet de Swiet, head of BUPA Hospitals marketing said:"This development has come in response to increasing demand to makehospitals, consultants and the services they offer easier to access. I hopethat by continuing to improve our customer service in this area, we will be ableto remove some of the anxiety a visit to hospital can often mean."

 

Harriet added: "Increasingly, businesses are usingthe web to improve customer information and service. The new BUPA Hospitalswebsite received 12,000 visits in its first month alone."

Once patients have found their local hospital andconsultant paying for their care could not be easier. Patients with privatemedical insurance are advised to contact their insurance company and check thatthey are covered for the planned treatment, including the first out-patientappointment. For those patients who do not have private medical insurance, orare not covered for the treatment they need, they can still enjoy privatehealth care in a BUPA hospital thanks to our fixed price care scheme. Thisscheme lets patients arrange the care and treatment they need with thereassurance of a cost that's agreed in advance.

 

Visitors to the new website can use an on-line enquiryform to contact the customer services adviser at their local hospital. Theywill receive a comprehensive and personalised reply within 24 hours. Thewebsite also contains information about:

        200 treatments including diagnostic investigations,operations and complementary therapies explaining which services are availableat each of BUPA's 36 hospitals

        links to a directory of over 200 health informationfactsheets

        BUPA Hospitals quality of care

        how to prepare for a stay in hospital

        information for visitors