FAQ
How We'll Work Together
Initial Consultation
Before your initial consultation, we’ll ask you to complete a brief questionnaire letting us know the key issues you would like your dietitian to address, as well as any tests you may have had and relevant medical history. This information helps your dietitian prepare relevant information to ensure you get the most out of your appointment.
At your first appointment, your dietitian will ask you a range of questions related to your diet, medical history and lifestyle and may also get you to complete a short gut health assessment. Once your dietitian has understood your current concerns and background, they will use their clinical expertise to help tailor a plan that is right for you.
After your appointment, your dietitian will write a summary letter, which will include your action plan. You’ll receive this letter within 7 working days to your preferred email address.
The letter will be sent securely via our record-keeping software to protect your privacy in line with clinical governance regulations.
Follow-up Appointments
After your initial consultation, your dietitian may suggest a review appointment in a suitable timeframe to assess the effectiveness of the plan they have given to you. You may be asked to maintain a food and/or symptom diary before your review appointment to help your dietitian decide the next best step in your care pathway and tailor advice going forward.
For those with IBS, we would normally recommend three sessions, although sometimes more are required depending on individual symptom response. For Coeliac disease, we would normally ask to see you annually following your annual blood test with your GP, as per the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines. For other conditions, the number of sessions and timelines will depend on your individual needs.
Assessment Methods
We’ll tailor our assessment methods based on what’s right for your individual needs. We will only recommend valid tests and, if needed, we will refer you to the appropriate professional within our network of clinicians.
Other Frequently Asked Questions
The specialist dietitians offer appointments at from Monday to Thursday. These appointments are booked and paid for in advance, so it’s recommended that you get in touch via our contact form to secure your appointment at your earliest convenience.
Due to COVID-19, we conduct the majority of our appointments online via zoom, but we also now offer a fortnightly face-to-face clinic at OneWelbeck in London (nearest station Bond Street or Oxford Circus).
An initial consultation is £175* and lasts up to an hour.
Follow up appointments are £115* and lasts up to 30 minutes.
We offer extended follow-up appointments on request.
Payment is required at the time of booking to secure your appointment.
For clients with private medical insurance please note that we accept Aviva, Cigna and WPA. We are unable to accept BUPA, Vitality and AXA at this time.
*for overseas appointments, there is an additional £5 transaction fee on each appointment cost.
This will vary for each individual and will be discussed at your first consultation in more detail.
As a guide:
For IBS we normally recommend three appointments.
For Coeliac disease we recommend 6 or 12 monthly reviews depending on your blood tests.
For other conditions your clinician will discuss this with you personally.
Our team at The Gut Health Clinic is not specialised in active eating disorders, therefore to ensure you receive the best care, it would be recommended for you to seek a trained dietitian who has expertise in this area, as part of a multi-disciplinary team alongside a psychologist. However, if you have eating disorder history and have recovered, please do share this when enquiring and our team will take this into account. During your consultation, if anything triggers, please let us know straight away.
This is determined on a case-by-case basis. As the research suggests, we do typically see the best results from whole diet and lifestyle strategies, as opposed to supplements. If you are interested in a particular supplement, we can help answer any questions you may have. Importantly, we will only ever recommend a supplement where there is evidence to support doing so.
You do not need to have any tests done before your first appointment. Our expert team will only recommend blood, breath, stool or other tests if they are indicated and valid. We can coordinate this either via your GP or our specialist colleagues within our professional network.
There are many stool testing kits that can be purchased online, often promising that the results will guide diet recommendations. We understand that the range of test kits on offer can be confusing. In truth, the evidence for most of these tests is limited. At The Gut Health Clinic, if we do recommend stool testing or any testing after your initial consultation, we will explain the evidence-based rationale to you and answer any questions you may have.
Sometimes we recommend a referral to a gastroenterologist or other healthcare professional for further investigation or treatment. This can be arranged privately or via a letter to your GP if within the NHS.
We know there are many stool and microbiome testing kits that often promise clear diagnosis and guidance on diet recommendations, however in truth, sadly the scientific evidence for these tests is currently limited. The tests that are currently commercially available do not inform practical recommendations at present. We would be happy to discuss these in clinic with you.
We would also never want to mislead our patients with unnecessary testing, which can be very costly. Instead, we focus on evidence-based methods in clinical practice that can more accurately guide the strategies in your plan. We do hope that in the future the technology and research will improve to enable personalised recommendations based on microbiome tests, and we will certainly keep you updated as the research unfolds.
We operate a 48-hour cancellation policy. If you can no longer make your appointment, please let us know at least 48 hours before at the clinic email address. We kindly ask all patients to respect this policy so we can continue to provide a high quality service and allow others on our waiting list to fill the sessions.
For cancellations or requests to change less than 48 hours before your appointment, or for non-attendance, we are not able to offer a refund or change the appointment and the full fee will apply. If you are late arriving for your appointment, the time for the consultation will be reduced accordingly. There will be no corresponding reduction or refund in the fee. Note that late arrivals more than 15 minutes after the allotted clinic time will be treated as non-attendance.
We reserve the right to refuse requests for refunds sent within 48 hours of the appointment or after the appointment has taken place.
Our expert team see patients with a range of conditions and dietary needs. We understand that people with gut health issues may also have other conditions and we are qualified to manage these too e.g. diabetes, allergies, weight issues etc. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.
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