Private Patients
Bridges Clinic – Private Healthcare at Bedford Hospital
Please visit the Bridges Clinic Website.
Bridges Clinic opened in 2018 and is part of Bedford Hospital providing a focus for our growing private healthcare service. We offer most medical specialties as well as cosmetic procedures, diagnostic imaging, physiotherapy, endoscopy suite, pathology and pharmacy.
We work hard to protect our reputation for excellence and welcome patients from all health insurers and self-funding patients.
Bridges Clinic – for the local community
Bedford Hospital has been providing private healthcare, alongside our NHS care, for over 20 years and our mission is to provide first-class, affordable private healthcare for the local community. We offer a safe, comfortable and welcoming environment combined with a responsive service so you can be seen quickly and by the consultant of your choice.
Consultants choose Bridges Clinic
We strive to attract and retain the best consultants in Bedford. All our private consultants hold substantive NHS consultant posts, giving you the reassurance that you’re in the best possible hands.
Consulting Rooms
We have 6 private consulting rooms, located at Bridges House on the Bedford Hospital South Wing site, offering free parking for private patients, comfortable reception and waiting area with complimentary tea and coffee, as well as a welcoming team to guide you through your healthcare journey.
Rapid access to consultants and services
As soon as your private referral comes in, usually from your GP, you will be contacted and booked in for an appointment as soon as possible. Alternatively, you can call our Private Patient Team direct for advice and self-referral where possible.
An appointment with a suitable consultant will usually be offered within a few days and surgical procedures arranged as soon as possible, if required.
Insurance networks and self pay options
We are welcomed and recognised by the major health insurers. If you don’t have health insurance, you can just pay as you go for treatment and services. We have affordable package price options for the most common treatments and procedures and will provide you with a detailed quote of all your expected costs prior to any treatment, so there are no surprises.
Part of the NHS
Our Private Patient Service is part of Bedford Hospital NHS Trust which gives the reassurance of the full range of support and emergency response services, including Intensive Care Unit and High Dependency if ever these are needed. By choosing to receive your care through Bridges Clinic you are contributing to Bedford Hospital as all profits go back into our Trust for the benefit of the NHS, our patients and teams.
Paying for your own treatment
We welcome self-funding patients, you don’t need insurance to have access to private healthcare, and our prices are affordable.
Private healthcare means choice. You can see the consultant you want at a time suited to you and have fast access to a diagnosis, any tests required and the treatment which is right for you.
We have a range of self – pay package prices which give you the assurance of knowing all the costs up-front. Our fixed price packages include your pre-operative assessment, consultant-led treatment, with follow ups and six months aftercare should you need it.
Cobham Clinic
The Cobham Clinic is the 13 bed purpose built private patient unit situated within, and managed by the Luton and Dunstable University Hospital.
The unit provides services for those with private medical insurance and for those patients paying for themselves and wishing to take advantage of our fixed price surgery arrangements. We have agreements with all the major insurance companies including BUPA, Aviva, and AXA PPP. We are here to offer patients all the benefits of private inpatient and outpatient care at their local hospital, with the peace of mind that they have the safety of 24 hour ICU and HDU facilities, should they be required.
One of the cornerstones of our service is that the income provided by our patients stays at The Cobham Clinic and is invested directly back into NHS patient services throughout the hospital, to the benefit of the community. A full complement of surgical services provided by the Trust can be accessed as a private patient, including some specialist services such as weight loss surgery and corneal grafting, as well as some of the more minor procedures which improve quality of life.
Patients who do not have private medical insurance, or who do not necessarily wish to pay for the full cost of care can benefit too from our amenity bed scheme. When they receive their admission date from the hospital they can contact the clinic to request one of our rooms, subject to availability. The patient simply pays for the privacy of a private room but retains their NHS status for their treatment.
Please call the Cobham Clinic direct on 01582 497433 or visit their website if you require any further information about the clinic.