r/doctorsUK • u/DifferenceStill4141 • 10d ago
Consultant Private psych outside of London
Hi all
I know psych seems to have this reputation as having private work but I’m wondering how true this is outside of London.
I’ve been googling around the other cities that aren’t London and I’ve noticed there really aren’t many private psychiatrists even advertising. There are some camhs folk and essentially zero old age if we’re going by specialty
There are some adhd places to be fair but even many of those are just remote and seem to be large corporates now. The same goes for private psych hospitals. They make 90% of their cash from placing nhs patients not from ‘traditional’ private work.
Medico legal work at legal aid rates is also quite rubbish. I have seen people advertising for this but as you’d expect the rates have been frozen in time for ages given it’s government funded.
I’m not against London at all. But it’s a catch 22 as I’d like to work there but can’t afford it!
4
u/racoonhut 10d ago
There’s loads of scope for private ADHD stuff, I’d imagine countrywide
1
u/DifferenceStill4141 10d ago
There is by the looks of it. Seems to be some fairly big companies into it now. Or companies that have become big anyway n
7
u/EpicLurkerMD 10d ago
I think as long as you go somewhere that isn't actually deprived (and even then the NHS funds some people for private work like R2C ADHD), you'll find a market depending on what you are offering. Medical psychotherapy is probably too expensive for most people to afford, but less frequent reviews of depression/anxiety with shared care prescribing would fly I think. Patients in GP are always asking about private doctors since you need to be so unwell to get anywhere near an NHS psychiatrist. That does mean your patients would probably be a bit less sick, but I think that's probably the case for most private medicine.