7 minute read · Updated 2026-09-02
Private GP vs NHS GP: what is actually different?
Your NHS GP remains the home of your long-term record. A private GP is extra access. Mixing them well is the whole point. Mixing them badly is how letters go missing.
An NHS GP is your registered practice. They hold your long-term record, run screening, and sit inside the Health and Social Care system. A private GP is an additional doctor you pay to see when you need faster access or a specific piece of paperwork.
The useful difference is time and diary. A private clinic can offer same-day and evening slots because the list is smaller and the fee funds the time. That does not make the private doctor “better”. It makes them available.
Prescriptions from a private GP are private. You pay the pharmacy. Some medicines cannot be issued in a one-off private consultation. Fit notes and referral letters can be written when they are clinically justified. We will not write a letter that is not true.
Records should not live in two disconnected piles. With your consent we can write to your NHS GP. You should also tell us about hospital letters, allergies and the medicines you already take. Bring a list. Guessing is how errors happen.
Use NHS 111, GP out of hours, or 999 when the problem is urgent or an emergency. Use us when you need a planned appointment, a home visit that is not an emergency, or a report. If you are unsure, Find the right care on this site is built to push you towards 999 rather than towards a booking.
Friends Medical GP is part of Friends Medical Service. Specialists, scans, sexual health and travel clinic stay on the main site. This site is for private GP access and medical care at home. That split is deliberate, so the two sites do not compete with each other in search, and so you land on the right team.