GP Service Terms and Conditions
Introduction
Please read these Terms and Conditions carefully as they contain important information on the scope of the services we provide 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.
You will only be entitled to receive the services we have contractually agreed to provide on behalf of the partner organisation through which you are accessing our services. This means we may not be able to provide you with all the services described below. Before booking a consultation, please check with the partner organisation for full details of the services available to you.
These HealthHero 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.
Scope of Clinical Service Provision
The service is not a replacement for any regular health service(s) you are normally registered with, e.g., a General Practice. You may still need to see a healthcare professional face to face. You may also be advised to contact the emergency services if the clinician feels it is necessary.
We will not clinically triage any presenting symptoms or conditions until the consultation with a health professional. Therefore, please be aware that any information disclosed to us in advance of a consultation, either electronically or by telephone is for information purposes only and will not be dealt with in advance of the consultation.
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:
- has 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.
- is experiencing an acute mental health crisis.
Our customer service team are not clinically trained. If you contact us by telephone and the operator believes in good faith that the presenting symptoms or conditions indicate an emergency or life-threatening situation, they will advise you to contact your local emergency services immediately.
We cannot provide the following:
- Repeat Prescriptions*.
- Treatment for Ongoing Conditions.
- Prescriptions when using the Translation Service
Providing you with Safe and Effective Care
If you are registered with an NHS GP in England the clinician may, where appropriate and with your consent, access your NHS Summary Care Record (SCR) to assist the consultation. In all other cases, the clinician will 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 clinician it could affect the care they can give, and they may not be able to provide additional services to you, such as prescriptions, referral letters, medical certificates, or fit notes.
HealthHero and the consulting clinician cannot be held responsible should the information you provide be inaccurate or incomplete.
For example, if you are seeking a prescription for the combined oral contraceptive pill, the clinician will require information such as your weight and blood pressure to be able to safely prescribe.
If you give incorrect or untrue information in this respect, which would have impacted upon the clinician’s decision to prescribe and you subsequently have an adverse reaction to such medication, neither the consulting clinician nor HealthHero can be held responsible.
As an acute, episodic provider of healthcare we are not offering, nor seeking to provide, continuity of care. This care should be provided through the regular health service(s) you are normally registered with, or other healthcare providers to whom you may have been referred, or you have self-referred for treatment. One of our aims is to supplement the care provided by your regular health service(s), and we are careful not to replace this care.
Consequently, it is in your best interests to agree, in the event that the clinician asks for permission to share information regarding the consultation with your regular health service provider, e.g., the GP Practice you are registered with. Should you not give us consent to share the information, the clinician may feel that it is not safe to proceed with any treatment or referral options discussed.
To ensure we are giving safe and effective care to you, we may, amongst other measures, monitor the clinical appropriateness and frequency with which you use our services. In exceptional circumstances, where we believe that seeking advice and treatment from our service might be interfering with, if not jeopardising, the care that you receive from specialists and other healthcare professionals, we may come to the reluctant conclusion that it is not in your best medical interests that we continue to provide our service to you. Where this is the case, we reserve the right to deny service to you.
Eligibility and Healthcare Provider Information
This service is available worldwide.
By accessing our services, you are confirming that you are normally resident in the UK or Ireland and that you will provide us with your home address in addition to the address where you are located at the time of your consultation, if different.
The healthcare provider in the UK is HealthHero Solutions Ltd, registered in England, Company No. 03766413. The health professionals contracted to HealthHero Solutions Ltd are registered with the General Medical Council.
HealthHero Solutions Ltd is regulated in England by the Care Quality Commission. See https://www.cqc.org.uk/provider/1-1837286653. To view our latest inspection summary, please see https://www.cqc.org.uk/location/1-4323884342.
The healthcare provider in Ireland is HealthHero Healthcare Ireland Ltd, registered Company No. 670586. The health professionals contracted to HealthHero Healthcare Ireland Ltd are registered with the Irish Medical Council.
Children and Young Persons
If the patient is under 18 years old, an appointment can only be made by the parent, legal guardian, or carer of the child, unless they are over 16 and we are able to confirm from the partner organisation who provides you with access to our services (e.g., an employer, insurer, or membership group) that they are entitled as a named beneficiary.
To provide service to a child, it is a condition that:
- In all cases where a child is under 6 years of age, the details of their regular GP are provided and ta copy of the consultation notes will be sent to that GP.
- If the child is in your direct care at the time of the consultation and you are not the parent or legal guardian, we may need, or be required by law, to ascertain parental authority to proceed with any treatment.
If you are not the parent or legal guardian and the child is not in your direct care at the time of the consultation, we cannot make an appointment for that child, but will do so in your name and the consultation will be limited to providing non-specific, general advice only.
We reserve the right to refer or make disclosures to the appropriate authorities where we have concerns for the wellbeing of a child and that if doing so, it is in the best interests of that child whose welfare is paramount.
Your Responsibilities
There may be occasions when we will not be able to meet all your medical needs. Where this is the case, we may need to refer you back to other health services. We understand that this can be frustrating, but as a regulated healthcare provider, we are required to follow established policies and procedures to comply with the law and to ensure we provide you with safe and effective care.
The HealthHero team will treat you with dignity and respect and we ask you to afford them the same. We take a zero-tolerance approach to any rude, abusive, disrespectful, or inappropriate behaviour, in any form. Our team will terminate any electronic communications, calls, or consultations where any of the above is experienced and will report all instances to the partner organisation who has given you access to our services and, if required to do so by law, to the relevant law enforcement authorities.
Whether it is related to the care you have received, or the administrative services we provide to support your care, we ask that you allow the team to follow our policies and procedures and that you do not unfairly or unreasonably pressure the team, whether directly or indirectly, to deviate from them. We will only ever act in the best interests of a patient, even if that means we cannot provide the service they want or need.
We reserve the right to deny service to individuals who demonstrate any of the above, or other unreasonable behaviours.
Service Availability
You will only be entitled to those services we have agreed to provide on behalf of the partner organisation who has given you access to our services. For full details of the services available to you, please check with the partner organisation.
- Telephone consultations are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
- Video consultations are available from 8.00am to 10:00pm, UK time, 7 days a week.
- The Request Appointment and Message Doctor Services are available from 8.00am to 10:00pm, UK time, 7 days a week.
Appointment Booking
Appointments can be booked online or by telephone. Whether you have access to one or both means of booking depends on what has been agreed with the partner organisation through which you are accessing our services.
We will offer you appointment times, starting from the next available, up to 72 hours in advance.
We will offer you the choice of a male or female clinician, but you will not be able to request a named clinician. Please note that the gender of a clinician may not be the same as their sex that was assigned at birth.
The service is not designed to manage multiple health concerns in a single consultation. Whilst it is our policy that a consultation should reach its natural conclusion, you may have to book further appointments to address all your health needs if it is not possible to do so in one session. Please note that clinicians will have other patients booked for consultation and, for this reason, cannot allow consultations to run past the allotted time where they involve multiple health concerns.
Fees
HealthHero provides its services under contract to the partner organisation through which you have obtained access. As such, we will not charge you any fees for the contracted services.
Online Services
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.
Video Services
Where all available video consultation appointments have already been booked on a given day, you will be offered one on the next day or the next available telephone appointment instead.
When a video appointment is confirmed, we will send you an email with a link to access the service. Very occasionally, email systems can experience delays outside our control. If you have not received a confirmation email, you should contact us before the consultation is due to commence.
Should a video consultation not be possible for any reason, the clinician will initiate or attempt to continue your consultation over the telephone.
Images and Documents
Providing images or relevant documents can, where appropriate, help the consulting clinician to make a diagnosis. Should our patient care team think it would be helpful, they will provide you with instructions on how to send them to us or you can attach items directly when using an App.
Photographs of an intimate nature must not be sent to us. Please do not send any images of areas of the body which would normally be covered by a bikini or swimming trunks.
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.
Images and Documents sent to us will be processed and stored in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
Request Appointment and Message Doctor Services
The Request Appointment service allows you to send a message to book an appointment. Unless you request a specific time, we will offer you the next available appointment. Where we are unable to provide an appointment at your specified time, we will use reasonable endeavours to offer you a time as near to it as possible.
The Message Doctor service allows you to send us a message with a simple health query. If it is suitable, a clinician will provide a written response to you by email. However, if your query is more complex or indicates more serious health concerns, we will advise you to make an appointment for a full consultation. You cannot use this service to seek a prescription, referral letter or fit note.
We will use reasonable endeavours to provide you with a response within 4 hours. You should not use these services for other reasons or if you are making a complaint. Any messages received that are unrelated to these services will be disregarded.
Any requests received between 10.00pm and 8.00am will not be processed until after 8.00 am.
Pregnant Patients
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 undertake that consultation and the clinician will use their professional judgement when assessing next steps.
HealthHero 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. It is at the discretion of the consulting clinician to provide you with any medical advice or diagnosis, but our default position is to refer you back to your regular health professional or maternity care provider, 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 healthcare provider or specialist maternity care provider to arrange a ‘booking visit’ and antenatal care if you have not already done so.
Preparing for your consultation
Please ensure that you are available for the clinician to contact you at the scheduled time of your consultation. The clinician will use reasonable endeavours to initiate the consultation within 15 minutes of your appointment time.
Occasionally, the clinician may be able to begin your consultation earlier than planned and will contact you by telephone to confirm if that is convenient. If not, they will commence the consultation as scheduled. Correspondingly, there may be occasions when the clinician is delayed because they are dealing with the acute needs of another patient. Where this is the case, we will keep you informed, but our policy is to prioritise the care of the patient at the point of need. We hope all our service users will recognise the importance of this.
- The clinician will attempt to contact you at least at least twice within the appointment window before closing the case and moving on to the next patient.
- During your consultation, you must ensure you are somewhere private and be able to give the doctor your full attention.
- You must not be driving, using machinery, or doing any activity which may put your, or other people’s safety at risk.
- The clinician will terminate the consultation if they feel you are putting yourself or others at risk.
If you are currently taking medication, you should have the details to hand to share with the clinician.
Private Prescription Service
The clinician can offer you a private prescription if they feel that prescription medication is indicated.
Private prescriptions will only be raised:
- At the sole discretion of the clinician.
- During a telephone or video consultation.
- If it is safe, clinically appropriate and in your best interests.
- If it complies with our prescribing policy.
We cannot issue prescriptions if the consultation is conducted using the translation service.
Some medications cannot be prescribed remotely, and the clinician will advise you if they are unable to do so. The clinician will review your previous HealthHero consultation history before deciding if it is safe to proceed with a prescription. If you are unable to satisfactorily answer the clinician’s questions, they may decline to issue a private prescription.
Controlled Drugs
The prescribing of controlled drugs is subject to strict controls, both in law and our prescribing policy. The clinician will advise you whether it is permissible to prescribe a particular medication.
- In the UK, we are unable to prescribe any Schedule 1, 2 or 3 drugs remotely.
- It is HealthHero policy that you can only have one prescription for each of any permissible controlled drug in any rolling six-month period.
- We do not prescribe any controlled medications for dispensing outside of the United Kingdom or Ireland.
Repeat Prescriptions
This service is not normally suitable for issuing repeat prescriptions because we are unable to provide you with continuity of care. However, there are some exceptions including, but not limited to:
- The oral progestogen only contraceptive pill
- Some forms of Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT)
- Where your electronic Summary Care Record is available to the clinician, and they feel it is appropriate to proceed.
Prescribing for Ongoing Conditions
The service is not suitable for patients presenting with ongoing conditions, including those that are long-term, who are seeking regular treatment for those conditions through the HealthHero service. Patients with some chronic illnesses such as depression, diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and asthma will need to be seen regularly, under the direct care of a health professional, for monitoring of their condition and HealthHero clinicians are unable to do this.
Where the clinician determines it is safe to do so, they may issue a bridging prescription, on one occasion only, of up to 4 weeks (28 days) supply of a prescription only medicine, to extend an existing treatment and enable you to make an appointment with your regular healthcare provider.
Prescription Fulfilment
Our clinicians 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.
HealthHero does not charge for issuing private prescriptions, but in choosing to have it fulfilled, you will be entering a contract with a pharmacy outside of the control of HealthHero. Fulfilling a private prescription is at the sole discretion of the dispensing pharmacist and HealthHero is not responsible for any refusal to dispense.
Regarding private prescriptions:
- It is HealthHero policy not to send prescriptions directly to patients if they are in the UK or Ireland at the time of their consultation.
- In the case that you are in Ireland at the time of your consultation, it will be issued by a clinician contracted to HealthHero Healthcare Ireland Ltd.
- In the case that you are in the UK at the time of your consultation, it will be issued by a clinician contracted to HealthHero Solutions Ltd.
- Where your chosen pharmacy does not have the prescription medication in stock, any subsequent reissuing of the prescription to a different pharmacy in Ireland or any amendment to prescribe an alternative medication will result in delays to dispensing, for which HealthHero cannot be held responsible.
- Fulfilling a private prescription is at the sole discretion of the dispensing pharmacist and HealthHero is not responsible for any refusal to dispense.
Local Pharmacy Collection
If you are in Ireland at the time of your consultation, we will send the private prescription directly to your chosen pharmacy and advise you when it is ready for collection. If we must contact you after the consultation to obtain the details of your preferred pharmacy, this may delay dispensing.
If you are in the UK at the time of your consultation, we will issue an electronic prescription using a service provided by our partner, SignatureRx, which can be dispensed at a UK pharmacy of your choice.
When SignatureRx receives your prescription, you will be contacted by text and/or e-mail with a unique identification code for you to present to your chosen pharmacy so they can access your prescription and dispense your medication.
All pharmacies in the UK should accept prescriptions delivered through SignatureRx. You can find the pharmacies nearest to you and who are already familiar with the SignatureRx service here: https://signaturerx.co.uk/patient-guide/
Medication Delivery Service
For patients in the UK, you will be given the choice to have your prescription dispensed and delivered to you by SignatureRx. They will not charge you for processing the prescription, but you will be required to pay for the cost of the medication and delivery, and you are under no obligation to proceed.
Prescribing if you are outside of the UK and Ireland
If you are outside of both the UK and Ireland, and at our sole discretion, we may send the prescription to you by email, in a digitally secure format.
You must present this prescription to a pharmacy, acting as the intermediary between us and them, unaltered, following the instructions given to you by us. We cannot guarantee that a prescription issued for dispensing outside of the UK or Ireland will be fulfilled by any pharmacy.
The fulfilment of an electronic prescription is at the sole discretion of the dispensing pharmacist and HealthHero is not responsible for any refusal to dispense, nor their fulfilment charges.
Open Private Referrals
If the clinician feels you would benefit from a specialist assessment, they can provide you with an open private referral letter.
This is an open private referral, which means it can be presented to any consultant with the stated specialty. The referral is for private use only and may not be accepted for services provided by state funded healthcare.
If you have access to privately funded healthcare, please note that the open private referral is not a claims authorisation and you will need to speak to your healthcare provider prior to accessing any treatment, unless you intend to self-fund.
To best meet your clinical needs, you should not seek to directly access any diagnostic or testing services before engaging a consultant, as they will take responsibility for any subsequent diagnosis, care, or treatment you may require. This is not something our referring clinicians are able to do.
Referral letters will be securely emailed directly to you.
Private Medical Certificates or Fit Notes
If it is clinically appropriate, and where the service is available to you, the clinician can issue a private medical certificate or fit note. HealthHero does not charge for issuing these documents, but you will need to check with your employer to confirm that they will accept one.
Private medical certificates or fit notes cannot be used to access state funded sick pay or welfare benefits.
Hearing Impairment
If you have a hearing impairment, we recommend you book a video consultation which has the additional benefit of real time chat functionality.
If you are in the UK, are a user of the RelayUK system and wish to use it during your consultation, then please give us your TextNumber as your contact telephone number to allow us to automatically connect to the Relay UK service when we call it.
Your TextNumber will be prefixed with 07777 if you are using the Relay UK app on a mobile, or 03306 when using a textphone or the Relay UK app on a computer or tablet from a landline.
If you are booking online and do not have a TextNumber but want us to call you using the RelayUK service, please prefix your telephone number with 18002.
If you are in Ireland and you would like us to use the ITRS service, please advise us when making your booking.
Translation Service
Upon your request, we can provide translation services via an interpreter.
To request a translator, you will need to call our Customer Support team on the telephone number you have been given to access the service. We may not be able to arrange this service if your appointment is within the next 3 hours.
If you have already booked your consultation online, you will still need to call our Customer Support team to request a translator.
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 health 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.
Consultation Notes
Following your consultation with a clinician you may be issued with a copy of the consultation notes, and if issued by the clinician, any Medical Certificate or Fit Note or Referral Letter.
The information contained in these documents is fully encrypted and will be made available to your device from the HealthHero platform if you have access to a mobile application (App) or sent by email to the address you have provided. If you are accessing our services through an App, the partner organisation providing access to our services will 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.
Concerns and Complaints
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 the partner organisation who provides you with access to our services. 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:
For patients based in the UK:
The Complaints Manager
HealthHero Solutions Ltd
Inspired,
Easthampstead Road,
Bracknell,
RG12 1YQ
For patients based in Ireland:
The Complaints Manager
HealthHero Healthcare Ireland Ltd
3 Terenure Road West
Terenure
Dublin 6W
D6W YY79
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, which can be found here:
https://www.healthhero.com/Complaints-Procedure/
Limitation on Liability
Nothing herein excludes or limits our liability for:
- death or personal injury caused by our negligence;
- fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; or
- 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 services 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; or
- 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 GBP500,000.
Applicable Law
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.
For the avoidance of doubt, the provision of our services from Ireland shall be governed by and construed in accordance with, the laws of Ireland and each of the Parties submits to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Irish courts.
The published timings are correct as of the date of last update stated below but may be subject to change.
Links checked and Terms and Conditions last updated on 2-Mar-2023.