The CMA Order
In October 2014, the Competition and Markets Authority ("CMA") published the Private Healthcare Market Investigation Order 2014 (the "CMA Order"). The CMA Order requires private hospital operators (such as HCA UK) to disclose on their websites certain information relating to the way the private hospitals interact with referring clinicians; that is a clinician that has practising privileges and/or has the ability to refer patients for treatment or tests at a private hospital.
Full details about the investigation and the Order can be found on the CMA web page: here.
It is important that HCA is transparent about our relationship with doctors and we therefore set out below some of the ways in which we work together.
We would welcome your feedback on the way this information has been presented. Please contact us by email using the link here.
Useful outcome statistics for all private healthcare operators can be found on the Private Healthcare Information Network website at www.phin.org.uk
This information disclosed on this page is supplied in accordance with the Private Healthcare Market Investigation Order 2014; and is true and accurate to the best of HCA’s knowledge and belief.
Expert medical advice and clinical quality
"Putting patients first" was the founding philosophy of the doctors who established HCA in 1968. Since then, we have worked closely with medical professionals to put the health and wellbeing of all patients at the centre of what we do. Working closely with doctors is integral to our delivery of excellent patient care across all our hospital facilities.
Our clinical quality processes are designed to ensure that we are able to manage complex services and facilitate the best possible care for patients. As in the NHS, senior doctors spend a proportion of their time overseeing audits and clinical governance procedures; reading and disseminating management guidelines and policies; serving on specialty advisory committees and Departmental Management Teams; carrying out hospital subcommittee duties; taking on Lead Clinician roles; updating unit documentation; dealing with complaints, clinical incident investigations and critical incident reviews; and, participating in local clinical governance committees and local and national guideline groups.
Our advisers are among the most respected and eminent consultants in the UK, and our patients benefit from the high-level clinical advice of doctors who are leaders in their fields.
As senior clinicians, our advisers are often sought to consult on health issues for governmental and intergovernmental organisations including the UK Trade and Investment department (UKTI), the Department of Health, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and the World Health Organisation (WHO). We are extremely proud that these consultant doctors choose to work with HCA.
HCA is charged an hourly rate by consultant doctors in return for their expertise and advice on how to operate excellent hospital facilities. These hourly rates are calculated by an external party on a Fair Market Value basis (FMV).
The vast majority of doctors who provide advice to HCA also have practicing privileges to treat patients in our facilities, but are under absolutely no obligation to do so. They are free to treat patients at any other private facility.
HCA is passionate about ensuring that the advice we receive from consultants should in no way compromise their NHS commitments. HCA requires the doctors that provide us with medical advice to attest that they are not compromising their NHS commitments to do so.
Services and Partnerships with doctors
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Low-value services icon plus
The following low-value services are provided free-of-charge to referring clinicians with practising privileges at HCA facilities:
- General services to ensure appropriate clinical care (such as in-house training, chaperones)
- Workplace amenities (e.g. free/subsidised tea and coffee including for patients, on-site meals, stationery)
- General marketing (such as general promotional events, consultant directories and internet profiles)
Flu jabs
As is common practice at healthcare facilities, HCA provides flu jabs in winter at some of our sites. These jabs are available on a first-come, first served basis and doctors are not given priority over HCA staff.
Physician Support Services
Physician Support Services, part of HCA International Ltd, provides doctors with access to services which support their medical practice. By partnering with third party service providers, Physician Support Services facilitates doctors’ access to services including professional insurance, billing and collections, transcription services, virtual consultation solution, and practice management software. Doctors can use Physician Support Services as a one-stop service for outsourcing the non-medical and administrative elements of their practice. -
Higher-value services icon plus
Secretarial and administrative services
HCA sometimes employs medical secretaries to liaise with patients, deal with correspondence, make appointments and handle patients’ enquiries on doctors’ behalf. Sometimes, medical secretaries work for more than one doctor. They help to manage complex processes such as payroll, making administration efficient both for doctors and – most importantly – our patients. Medical secretarial services are made available on a non-discriminatory basis and on equivalent terms in accordance with the CMA Order. We charge doctors for using this service at Fair Market Value (FMV).
More details are provided at each hospital’s webpage (with links below on this page).
Consulting rooms
HCA UK considers that doctors must be able to see our patients without delay, and in close proximity to our diagnostic and treatment facilities. In order to achieve this, we licence our consulting rooms to doctors at Fair Market Value on an hourly or sessional basis at market rates, which we determine by calculating the rent we pay to landlords plus overheads (including rates, services charges, utilities). Consulting rooms are made available on a non-discriminatory basis and on equivalent terms in accordance with the Order.Due to new COVID-19 health and safety measures at the hospitals and the consequent impact on room availability, the rates have been temporarily reduced by 25%.
More details are provided at each hospital’s How We Work With Doctors webpage.
Training
Where appropriate, HCA contributes to the cost of training and professional development of doctors via external training and attendance at medical conferences.
Car parking
Car parking spaces are provided at a number of our sites on a first-come, first-served basis. Where permits are offered to the doctors that support HCA, they are charged at Fair Market Value for that parking permit. -
Events icon plus
HCA UK provides general corporate hospitality and social events (such as Christmas parties) for staff and doctors. Such hospitality is proportionate and reasonable and is not provided by HCA UK with the intention of inducing referrals or rewarding the referring clinician for making or having made referrals to HCA UK.
However, no such events were provided by HCA UK in 2020.
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Equity participation icon plus
Some HCA hospitals and facilities operate partnerships with doctors, some of whom may be referring clinicians.
More details are provided at each hospital’s How We Work With Doctors webpage.
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Referring clinicians who also hold other positions at HCA UK icon plus
A number of doctors provide us with clinical guidance on how to deliver the best possible care to patients and run our hospitals safely and efficiently. We pay those doctors for this service at Fair Market Value (FMV) and we use an independent company to provide assurance around our FMV calculations.
Many of these doctors work at more than one HCA facility. For ease of reference, therefore, you can find more information on any such medical advisory positions (including payments made by HCA to the doctor) on your doctor’s HCA biography webpage.
Working with doctors across our facilities

The Christie Private Care
How we work with doctors
The Harley Street Clinic
How we work with doctors
HCA at University College Hospital
How we work with doctors
Leaders in Oncology Care (LOC)
How we work with doctors
The Lister Hospital
How we work with doctors
London Bridge Hospital
How we work with doctors
The Portland Hospital
How we work with doctors
The Princess Grace Hospital
How we work with doctors
The Wellington Hospital
How we work with doctors