HealthHero Solutions Limited provides the GP 24/7 service on behalf of Benenden Health.

These Terms and Conditions should be read alongside our Privacy Policy.

The Privacy Policy contains important information on who we are and how and why we collect, store, use and share your personal information. It also explains your rights in relation to your personal information and how to contact us or supervisory authorities in the event you have a complaint.

Please read these Terms and Conditions carefully as it contains important information on the scope of the services we provide on behalf of Benenden Health and how we deliver them. By using our services, you are deemed to have accepted these Terms and Conditions. If you do not agree to these terms of use, please refrain from accessing or using our services.

We do not undertake:

• any review or assessment or the clinical triage of any presented symptoms or conditions disclosed to us electronically via the Benenden Health App prior to a consultation with a GP;

• the clinical triage of any presented symptoms or conditions disclosed to us by telephone prior to a consultation with a GP

Therefore, you must not use this service for emergencies or urgent conditions, such as (but not limited to) those listed below, as this may delay necessary treatment.

If you believe that you are in an emergency or life-threatening situation you should contact your local Emergency Services immediately by dialling 999 or 112, especially if you or someone:

• have severe difficulty or are not breathing
• is having a heart attack or stroke
• has severe chest pain
• has severe abdominal pain
• has severe bleeding
• has lost consciousness
• is in an acute confused state and/or is having fits which aren’t stopping
• is in suicidal distress

Our customer service team are not clinically trained. If you access our service by telephone and we believe in good faith that the presenting symptoms or conditions indicate an emergency or life-threatening situation, we will advise you to contact your local emergency services immediately or assist you by calling on your behalf where we have sufficient information to do so.

Only residents and/or nationals of the United Kingdom (UK) are eligible to use our services. By using our services, you are confirming that you are a UK resident and/or national.

The healthcare provider in the United Kingdom is HealthHero Solutions Ltd, registered in England, Company No. 03766413. The GPs contracted to HealthHero Solutions Ltd are registered with the General Medical Council.

The Telephone Consultation Service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week; the Video Consultation Service is available from 8.00am to 10:00pm, UK time, 7 days a week, excluding Christmas Day*.

The service is not a replacement for your own GP. You may still need to see your own GP or contact the emergency services if the GP feels it is necessary.

We may not be able to provide full service if you suspect you may be or are pregnant. HealthHero has defined the duration of pregnancy to be from conception to 8 weeks post-delivery.

If you are pregnant and book a consultation, we will complete that consultation and the GP will use their professional judgement when assessing next steps.

HealthHero’s policy is that we should not provide medical advice or diagnosis for conditions that may be impacted or influenced by the fact you are pregnant. For the avoidance of doubt, and where this is the case, our policy is to signpost you back to your own GP or maternity care provider by default, as pregnancy impacts on many conditions for which a telemedicine service is not well suited to make a safe diagnosis or offer treatment, including advice.

It is also our policy that should you declare to us that you are pregnant or have had a positive pregnancy test, we will signpost you to a local GP or maternity care provider to arrange a ‘booking visit’ and antenatal care if you have not already done so.

The GP does not have access to your full medical records and therefore any advice or treatment options given are based on information you provide during the consultation.

It is your responsibility to ensure that any information you provide is honest, accurate and lawful. If you choose to withhold relevant information from the GP, it could affect care they are able to give and they may not be able to provide additional services to you, such as prescriptions, referral letters or fit notes.

We are not responsible for your routine or ongoing care, so it is in your best interests that if the GP asks for permission to share information regarding the consultation with your own GP, that you agree. Should you not give us consent to do so, please be aware that the GP may feel that it is not safe to proceed with any treatment or referral options discussed.

Appointments can be booked by telephone or via the Benenden Health App. We will let you know available appointments based on the preferences you select when making your booking.

Appointments made by telephone will be confirmed at the time of your call and if you are in an area with poor mobile reception, we recommend that you use a landline for a telephone consultation.

If you have call barring set up on your phone, we recommend using a different line as it is possible that your service provider could block the GP’s call to you.

Appointments made online by the Benenden Health App will be confirmed in the Benenden Health App and by email.

The availability of our online services cannot be guaranteed as mobile data and internet connections are controlled by third parties with whom HealthHero has no direct relationship or contract.

If the content of any electronic communication you send to us is inappropriate and/or abusive we will take whatever action is appropriate, including reporting the incident to Benenden Healthcare and if required to do so by law, to the relevant law enforcement authorities. We do not tolerate any abuse of our staff in any form.

At the time of your consultation, you should ensure you are somewhere private.

Providing images or relevant documents can, where appropriate, help the consulting GP to make a diagnosis. Should our patient care team think it would be helpful, they will send you an email with instructions on how to provide them or, you can attach items directly when booking a GP consultation via the Benenden Health Member App.

Please be aware that the quality of any images or documents you send may not permit a diagnosis and that any you provide are for the sole purpose of the consultation.

When a video appointment is confirmed, we will send you an email with a link to access the service and if you have booked via the Benenden Health App, you will be able to access the link from the App. Very occasionally, email systems can experience delays outside our control. If you have not received a link to your video consultation you should contact us before the consultation is due to commence.

Should a video consultation not be possible for any reason, the GP will initiate or attempt to continue the consultation over the telephone.

The GP reserves the right to terminate the video consultation in the event of any inappropriate behaviour.

The diagnosing GP can offer you a private prescription where they feel that prescription medication could assist you in treating your symptoms. These costs are not covered by your membership – they are private prescriptions and separate charges apply for the cost of medication and delivery which you’ll pay directly to the pharmacy. Your prescription can be either collected from a local pharmacy or medication delivered directly to you the next working day.

Private prescriptions will only be raised:

• At the sole discretion of the GP
• During a telephone or video consultation
• If it is safe, clinically appropriate and in your best interests
• If it complies with our prescribing policy

Please be aware that some medications cannot be prescribed remotely, and the GP will advise you if they are unable to do so.

In the absence of possession and knowledge of your medical records and follow up care, except for the contraceptive pill in Ireland, the service is not suitable for issuing repeat prescriptions.

If you are unable to satisfactorily answer the GP’s questions, then they may not be able to raise a private prescription.

Our GPs can only issue private prescriptions, so please be aware that State funding or exemptions do not apply, and any costs associated with fulfilment will be met by you. Fulfilling a private prescription is at the sole discretion of the dispensing pharmacist and HealthHero is not responsible for any refusal to dispense.

The GP will automatically offer you two options, collection of your prescription medication from a local pharmacy nominated by you, or a delivery service from our pharmacy partner.

If you choose to collect your prescription medication from a local pharmacy, we will ask you to nominate your preferred pharmacy to fulfil the prescription.

HealthHero does not charge for issuing private prescriptions, but in choosing to collect from a local pharmacy, you will be entering a contract with a pharmacy outside of the control of HealthHero. We will have no knowledge or control over the pharmacy charges for fulfilling the private prescription.

We will send the private prescription directly to the pharmacy and contact you to advise when it is ready for collection.

For patients in the UK, if you have agreed to a private prescription being issued and chosen to have it delivered to you, it will be dispensed by our partner community pharmacy. They will not charge you for processing the prescription, but you will be required to pay them directly (by debit or credit card) for the cost of the medication and delivery.

The dispensing pharmacy is open on weekdays from 9 am to 6pm and on Saturdays from 9am to 1pm, UK time, excluding UK bank holidays*.

The dispensing pharmacy will use reasonable endeavours to contact you within 1 hour of receiving the prescription and attempt contact at least 3 times before cancelling your prescription.

The dispensing pharmacy will confirm the total cost and delivery options and you are under no obligation to proceed.

If it is clinically appropriate, the GP can issue a fit note.

HealthHero will not charge for issuing this document, but you will need to check with your employer to confirm that they will accept one.

Private fit notes cannot be used to access state funded sick pay or welfare benefits.

Upon your request, we can provide translation services via an interpreter. We use a translation service provided by Language Line Limited for patients when English is not their first language. Language Line will not retain any call scripts and your personal data will be processed live for the purposes of translating the call.

The interpreters are independent contractors and any translation given to you by an interpreter is the sole responsibility of the interpreter and may not be entirely accurate in all cases. In the circumstances, and to the extent permitted by law, we do not warrant or make any representation as to the interpretation by an interpreter and disclaim any liability for the acts or omissions of such interpreter.

The service provided to you will be limited to translated advice only and is only available as a Video consultation.

The interpreter is only present to facilitate communication during the consultation. They should not be asked to undertake any other duties during the consultation time.

Please note that when an interpreter is required, additional time may be needed for your consultation.

Following your consultation with a GP you may be issued with a copy of the consultation notes and if clinically appropriate, the following documentation:

• Fit Note

The information contained in these documents is fully encrypted and will be made available to your device from the Benenden Health App or sent by email to the address you have provided. If you are accessing our services through the Benenden Health App, Benenden Health does not have access to the content of these documents. You should ensure that any device you use to access your post consultation notes is suitably protected from potential interception.

Should you wish to make a complaint or would like to raise a concern you can contact us directly on the telephone number you have been given to access the service or through Benenden Healthcare. You can also e-mail your concerns directly to our Patient Care Team at complaints.epc@healthhero.com.

Alternatively, you can also write to us:

The Complaints Manager
HealthHero Solutions Ltd
Inspired,
Easthampstead Road,
Bracknell,
RG12 1YQ

We will endeavour to acknowledge your complaint or concern as soon as it is received. We hope to be able to resolve it to your satisfaction within three working days of receipt, but if we are unable to do so, we will formally respond to you and follow our complaints procedure.

Nothing herein excludes or limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence or for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation or for any other liability which cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law. Nothing herein shall affect your statutory rights.

Except as may be expressly set out in these terms, all conditions, representations, and warranties relating to the service are excluded to the maximum extent permitted by law.

We shall not be liable for any defects or errors in the services, nor interruptions in or unavailability of the services, nor any breach of any obligations due to a cause beyond our reasonable control.

When using our services, except to the extent permitted by law, we shall not be liable for:

• any loss, damage or distress incurred by you arising from reliance on information or the availability of the services; or
• any indirect, consequential, or economic loss, damage or distress incurred by you (including any such loss, damage or distress arising from unauthorised use of or damage to your data or content); or
• any consequential loss, damage or distress incurred by you arising from where you have not provided us with a full and accurate medical history or where you withhold any relevant information.
• any loss, damage or distress arising from use or attempted use of the services for emergency or urgent conditions or any consequential delays to necessary treatment.

Our total liability to you in connection with the services whether under contract, tort, statute, common law or otherwise (and including for negligence or wilful default) shall not in any circumstances exceed stg£500,000.

For the avoidance of doubt, the provision of our services from the UK shall be governed by and construed in accordance the laws of England and Wales and each of the Parties submits to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.

*Correct as of 25^th May 2021 and subject to change.

Links checked and Terms and Conditions last updated on 25^th May 2021