NHS doctors for over 20 years, Dr Laura O’Loghlen and Dr Justin Forbes opened their brand-new clinic, Montpellier Medical, in March 2025, with the aim of easing pressure from NHS waiting lists and offering an alternative for patients requiring quicker access to healthcare when they need it.
SoGlos chats to Laura about what inspired the launch of her new business, what makes it stand out and what she thinks about the future of the NHS.
What inspired the launch of your new clinic?
I have worked in the NHS since I qualified in 2005 but in the last few years, despite there being huge need, the employment opportunities within the NHS for GPs have dramatically reduced.
There are many unemployed GPs in the UK at the moment, highlighted at the recent UK LMC conference and, although some funding is being put into general practice, it is often ‘ring fenced’ to allow employment of newly qualified GPs or non-GP roles such as pharmacists and physiotherapists.
I am a huge believer in the NHS, my closest family members have received outstanding medical care from the NHS over the years and I had very positive experiences having my three babies at Gloucester Royal. However, the NHS is struggling to meet the needs of everyone who requires care at the moment – waiting lists continue to grow and access to GPs can be challenging. I hope that my practice can offer an alternative for people at a time when accessing healthcare can be difficult.
What makes this service different from traditional NHS or other private practices?
There is a common thread in UK healthcare, whether private or NHS, which is dedicated professionals trying to do the best for their patients with the resources available to them. Having said that, there are, of course, several ways in which our service differs from an NHS GP service, namely the speed and ease at which you can access our appointments.
You don’t have to call at 8am, fill in an online form or wait for a call-back. You can book online whenever is convenient and you can contact us directly via email or telephone with any queries. We have same day availability including appointments ranging from 8am to 8pm, depending on the day and at least every other Saturday morning. If you can’t see a slot that works for you we encourage people to get in touch as we can often open up slots to fit around your busy schedule.
Another way we differ is that you will always be able to book with the same GP so that you can develop a meaningful, therapeutic relationship with them, which tends to lead to better health outcomes. We are able to offer personalised care whereas the NHS service is designed on a population level to make sure that the available funds are spent in a way that makes best use of those finite resources. We are able to make decisions on care based on the person sat in front of us which is better for the individual and more satisfying as a clinician.
Another point of difference is how quickly we can refer on to specialists. Our referral letters are sent on the day of your appointment and people can often be seen within a couple of weeks. Blood results are usually received within 48 hours with a personalised report written by your GP which means that care can move faster and decision making is made easier.
We are a bit different from other
private practices as we are not solely a subscription service. We plan to
introduce a membership model in the future to allow people to spread the cost
of their care, but we will maintain the ability for people to book ad hoc whenever they wish.
What kind of appointments are available and what's the typical booking process?
At our core we are an old fashioned GP practice so GP consultations are our bread and butter. We offer appointments of differing lengths from 15 minutes for a follow-up, to our standard 30 minutes, and all the way up to 1 hour (or longer) if you just need that bit more time. We also provide telephone consultations for existing patients and can arrange home visits if mobility is an issue (or you just fancy being seen in your own surroundings!).
We also offer joint pain consultations and interventions, health checks, weight management, D4 driver and other medicals (such as those required for VISA applications or certain sporting events), B12 consultations, blood tests and specialist referrals.
The easiest way to book with us is via our website. You can choose what type of appointment you want and then book a day and time to suit you. We also have an answerphone where you can leave a message and we will get back to you.
Are there specific types of health concerns or conditions that this service is particularly well suited to?
We are very happy to treat all types of health issues and people of all ages. Our service is well set up to respond to acute issues such as sore throats, feverish children, coughs, urinary infections, constipation, ear ache, etc, as you can book in quickly on the day. However, we are very experienced in dealing with more complex, longer term conditions also.
Our health checks are designed to cater to those who are generally concerned about staying healthy and can provide a really helpful ‘snapshot’ of a person’s health, allowing us to make recommendations about lifestyle changes or start medication to avoid issues in the future. Our standard and ‘mini’ health checks also tend to compare favourably from a cost perspective with other health MOTs, with the added bonus of having a doctor oversee the whole process.
How do you ensure continuity of care for patients who use both private and NHS services?
Our aim is to establish and maintain close relationships with the local GP practices to aid seamless continuity for our patients. We will not share any information about you with anyone without your consent (unless there are exceptional circumstances) but patients are often more than happy for us to share information with their NHS GP to facilitate their care.
We ask patients to try and send us a short medical summary from their NHS GP that we can hold on their record with us so that we have access to information about medications, previous health conditions, etc. These summaries can be tricky to obtain with the current GP workload, but having sight of a patient’s NHS app or a list of their medications is a good starting point.
What do you see as the future of private GP services in Gloucestershire?
I think private healthcare is likely to be an area of expansion and I expect other clinics to pop up throughout Gloucestershire in the coming years.
I worry that the NHS will not exist in its current form when I am elderly, so I hope that private GP clinics can find their feet and establish an alternative for people.
It requires a shift in mindset for all of us as we are not used to paying for our healthcare (over and above our taxes). But just as we don't mind paying a bit extra for a good quality holiday, car or mobile phone, I hope that we will become accustomed to valuing our health in the same way.
