Business Overview

Go-Healthcare is a service that provides members with the ability to:

• speak to an experienced, UK based GP 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, from anywhere in the world.
• consult with a GP who has English as their main language  - something important when they or a family member are ill abroad for instance.
• have immediate access to commonly used UK medicines to treat minor illness, infection or pain.

We aim for Go-Healthcare to be the leading provider of such services by establishing service excellence, trust and value, as well as consistently maintaining the highest standards in member satisfaction.

Introduction

Whilst the NHS provides a health service to all UK residents, it is sometimes difficult to have a consultation with a GP at short notice, in remote locations and also when abroad. For busy workers, it is often inconvenient as it means taking time off and consultations very rarely take place at suitable times and within a short or reasonable time span.

In the UK, access to healthcare via telephone consultations is currently the main vehicle used in out of hours care however individual patient records and medical history are not available to the healthcare staff. In addition, patients have to source any medication needed in their own time and at their own expense.

Recent reports suggest language and cultural barriers account for 5% of healthcare issues, a hurdle for British citizens abroad, especially in countries where medical professionals speak little English.

Expats are most vulnerable as they have to integrate to a healthcare system in their new country of residence that is alien to their experience and whilst it can be an improvement in some countries, it is often worse in most. Language barriers make it very difficult to receive treatment and can lead to frustration, delays, and possibly inappropriate treatment through simple misunderstandings.

With Go-Healthcare access to an experienced, UK based GP is only a phone call away 24 hours a day, every day of the year and the medication is only an arm’s length away already in the possession of the member. See also our Services Overview section and FAQs

Why is Go-Healthcare so Different?

• Go-Healthcare always has an up-to-date medical record and medication history for all members. We try get to know them just as well as their own GP might.
• Following the consultation, medication is already in the member’s possession ready to take, there and then and involves no expense, no travelling and above all no time delays.
• Telephone advice is not new but the medication pack is, as is the follow up and proactive ethos of Go-Healthcare – GPs calling patients back, daily if necessary to check on their progress and alter the treatment plan to suit when necessary, starting antiobiotics only when appropriate perhaps after daily reviews of members' conditions and making sure any course of antibiotics is completely finished. i.e. using antibiotics in conjunction with the member and in the way they were specifically designed to work safest and most effectively.
• Patient data is highly secure. The database is only accessible by the Go-Healthcare medical team and uses levels of security higher than those in Internet banking. As you would expect, Go-Healthcare fully complies with the Data Protection Act 1998 and patient data is not accesible from the internet directly through any web browser.
• Top-up prescription medicine in the Go-Pax™ Box is provided free of charge.

Go-Healthcare is not a substitute for any healthcare or GP system. It is an enhancement to existing services, providing immediate access to a GP and medication at any time, wherever members may be.  It is designed specifically to deal with acute minor conditions such as cystitis, ear infections, sore throats, back pain, toothache or other such minor illnesses and infections. It is a GP service and whilst not comparable with existing private health insurance schemes is an excellent compliment to them. Go-Healthcare works along the same treatment guidelines as the NHS and to the highest standard of care.

Over and above this, Go-Healthcare is cost-effective and very affordable.