COVID-19 Scheduling Update

We at Medbelle hope you and your loved ones are all safe and keeping well during this challenging time.

As Medbelle surgeons and hospitals continue their commitment to helping the NHS in the fight against COVID-19, our Patient Care Advisers are still here to answer questions and provide you with updates as we progress through the next few months together.

Consultations

We are happy to announce Medbelle surgeons can now provide consultations in person or via video depending on the patient's preference.

We are happy to provide virtual consultations so Medbelle patients can continue to consult with our specialist plastic surgeons from the comfort and safety of their own homes.

Procedures

As of mid-July, surgery times for elective surgeries have slowly become available again across the UK.

Every Medbelle hospital is following the COVID-19 hygiene guidelines provided by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, also known as NICE. You can read about these guidelines on this page of the NICE website dedicated to COVID-19.

All of this means Medbelle can now begin scheduling some definite surgery dates for our patients.

Available surgery dates are limited. With this in mind, we are first scheduling dates for patients who have had their surgeries postponed in recent months.

We would also like to recommend our patients try to be as flexible as possible with regard to scheduling. This is because hospitals are generally only planning surgeries a maximum of 4 weeks in advance.

This means patients willing to make plans at short notice are much more likely to have their treatment this year.

Coronavirus Precautions

In line with NICE guidelines, every Medbelle patient is tested for COVID-19 before they are allowed to have surgery. These tests are organised for the patient by Medbelle.

Before this test can be administered, the patient must commit to 14 days of self-isolation as mandated by the NHS. You can learn more about the details of self-isolation before surgery in this document.

Patients will only be allowed to proceed with surgery if their test comes back negative for coronavirus.

To avoid unnecessary risk of contamination, we also request patients attend the hospital alone whenever possible and avoid public transportation when travelling to or from the hospital.

The extra precautions necessary to protect against COVID-19 infection may incur some small additional fees onto the price of surgery. Medbelle is doing everything possible to avoid these charges, but ultimately some may be non-negotiable to ensure the safety of every patient and healthcare worker in the hospital.

As we assign available surgery dates, there are still many ways we can help patients with provisional dates prepare for their surgery or consultation. These include providing information on procedures and tips on budgeting as well as many other topics.

Supporting our patients in this way has already made the processes move as smooth as possible as elective surgery dates have become available.

Rest assured, Patient Care Advisers will be in touch regularly with changes and updates as they happen to make sure every patient is kept in the loop.

If you have questions, concerns, or comments, please reach out to us via email at care@medbelle.com or telephone on 02034119171.