First appointment

We request that you attend 10 minutes in advance of your scheduled appointment time, in order that you have sufficient time to complete the registration paperwork and/ or procedure request forms if you are due to undergo a procedure. If you are late for your appointment, it may be necessary to abbreviate your consultation time.

Please bring a list of any medications, and relevant paperwork such as operation notes or implant details, if you wish to discuss previous surgical procedures done by another surgeon. If you have any text results, such as blood tests, scans, or biopsy results, they should be brought to your appointment. 

We are located on the third floor of the Beacon Consultants Clinic, in Suite 6. Parking is available in the Hospital car park, and from there, you should follow the signage for the Consultants Clinic. A blue line on the floor marks the way, and maps are available from Reception in the Hospital. There is also a Suite 6 in the Beacon Mall, through which you may pass on your way to the clinic, and this causes confusion on occasion. For your information, the only public bathroom in the Clinic, is on the ground floor, beside Reception.

Aesthetic surgical appointment

Please allow at least an hour for this detailed and comprehensive appointment. We realise that it can be hard to discuss your concerns, and we pride ourselves on allowing our patients the time and space to effectively communicated to us their concerns, goals, and expectations of surgery.

You will meet first with the aesthetic nurse, followed by a consultation with Ms Fitzgerald, during which she will take a detailed history, and discuss with you the proposed procedure or procedures with you. The nurse will take some details of your medical history, as well as recording your height and weight. Detailed clinical photographs are taken. Some people find themselves worried about this part of the consultation process: Please don't worry if you feel this way; it is entirely normal to do so - after all, you are coming to see us about a part of your body that bothers you to the extent that you are considering having a surgical procedure. The purpose of taking the photographs is to allow Ms Fitzgerald to show to you particular features of relevance, on a computer screen, rather than on your own body, in front of a mirror, during the course of your consultation with her. Obviously, Ms Fitzgerald will need to make a physical examination, during your consultation with her, but she will always wait until you are fully dressed and comfortable, before discussing details of her findings or the proposed procedure with you. 

Following your consultation, you will receive a detailed letter, and where a specific procedure has been discussed, you will also receive a copy of the relevant detailed information pack, and a link to the procedure request form, which is signed in advance of any surgery. Where it is proposed that the procedure take place on a self-funded basis, we will also provide to you a procedure quote. For most procedures, you will be sent a link to a questionnaire that measures your quality of life related to the procedure discussed. These questionnaires, the BodyQ, BreastQ, and FaceQ, are used to objectively measure surgical outcomes.

Once you have booked a date for surgery, you will be offered a second pre-operative consultation with Ms Fitzgerald, the purpose of which is to allow for clarification of any areas of concern, further discussion of any aspect of the surgery that you wish. The procedure request form should be completed in advance of that consultation, and we strongly encourage you to write down any and every question that you may have in preparation for that appointment. We are always happy to work our way through a list of questions with you. If you are due to have a breast augmentation procedure, then external implant sizers are tried on at this appointment, a process that allows us to determine the appropriate implants to be used during your surgery.

Should you decide to go ahead with an operation, the team would be delighted to talk you through the booking process, schedule a suitable date, and explain the practicalities around hospital admission and discharge, payments, and so on.

Non-surgical aesthetic procedure consultation

You will be asked to complete a detailed consultation form on arrival, so please arrive a minimum of 10 minutes in advance of your scheduled appointment time, in order to allow time for same.

Detailed photographs will be taken of the area for treatment. If possible, please attend your appointment with bare skin. If this is not possible, please remove your make-up prior to arriving for your appointment (the public bathroom is on the ground floor of the Consultants Clinic). 

On booking your appointment, you will be sent a detailed email regarding precautions, contra-indications, and pre- and post-treatment advice. Please ensure you read it carefully, as it is always disappointing if a treatment has to be deferred because of a simple issue that could have been addressed in advance (such as recent sun exposure before a laser treatment). The full consultation fee is payable should your treatment need to be deferred for such a reason.

Skin Health Consultation

Although people are welcome to book directly for certain skin treatments such as superficial peels, microdermabrasion, and laser treatments, we feel that the greatest benefit from our Medispa treatments comes about where they are recommended to you based on a careful analysis of your skin health, and an honest discussion around your concerns, goals, timeline, and budget. 

To that end, we recommend that you attend for a skin health consultation in the first instance. We will discuss all the above, and formulate a treatment plan for you. This could be as simple as a skin care regime, or a more involved programme involving in-office procedures combined with a home care regime. The cost of the consultation can be offset against recommended products and treatments (a minimum spend applies, and treatments must take place within six weeks of the consultation - in many cases, they are done on the same day).

Please attend your skin health consultation with bare skin. If this is not possible, please remove your make-up as soon as you arrive for you appointment - this is because the skin may appear temporarily redder than normal immediately after make-up removal, and it is important that we obtain a clear picture of the true state of your skin. There is a public bathroom on the ground floor of the Consultants Clinic.

Surgical Procedures

All surgical procedures take place at the Beacon Hospital. You will be informed as to the location of your procedure, at the time of scheduling. Most local anaesthetic cases take place in the Satellite Theatre on the Beacon Mall, opposite the pharmacy. You will be informed of the time of your procedure when we schedule it for you. Patients for day case and inpatient surgery done under general anaesthetic or sedation are admitted via the Day Surgery Unit, on the first floor of the Hospital. You will be advised of your time of admission via a phone call from the Scheduling Department, the day before your operation.

It is normal to feel anxious before your procedure: you should not however feel unsure about what is going to happen. As a rule, you will have signed a procedure request/ consent form before the day of your operation. This does not preclude you asking questions on the day of your procedure, and Ms Fitzgerald will be happy to address any concerns that you have, before going ahead with your procedure.

Following your operation, you will be discharged with wound care advice, and details of your follow-up appointment (if required)

Follow-up appointments

Appointments for removal of sutures or dressing changes take place either at the Dressing Clinic in the Beacon Hospital, or at Suite 6 in the Consultants Clinic. You will be advised as to which is the appropriate option for you. Alternatively, it may possible for stitches to be removed in your GP's practice: it is best to check with the practice in advance of your operation if this is possible.

Many patients undergoing excision of benign skin lesions will not require a follow-up appointment. Usually, we will telephone you with the result of any laboratory analysis carried out on removed tissue. We will also write to your GP to inform them of the result. Of course, all patients are welcome to attend for a follow-up after their operation, and we will be happy to book you an appointment on request. If you have not heard from us by four weeks after your surgery with your results, please get in touch.

Other patients will be asked to attend following surgery, and may be recommended to attend at set intervals thereafter, depending on the procedure performed. 

Please note that all follow-up appointments attract a consultation fee, with the exception of certain routine post-operative consultations following aesthetic procedures: the fee agreement for such procedures clearly details the appointments covered by the fee paid.