Seen by a consultant psychiatrist. This week.

A psychiatrist is a medical doctor (MD or equivalent) who has specialised in mental health for many years after general medical training. They diagnose mental illness, prescribe medication, and oversee a treatment plan. A psychologist has trained in the science of mind and behaviour and provides talking therapies — they can't prescribe medication. Many people see both: a psychiatrist for diagnosis and therapy, a psychologist for the therapy work alongside. See our Psychology & Therapy service for the talking therapy side.

Maybe, but probably not on the day. Our usual model is: Dr Kralimarkov writes a detailed letter to your GP within a few days of the appointment, recommending medication and asking them to issue an NHS prescription under shared care. This is better for you long-term because NHS prescriptions are far cheaper than private treatments for ongoing medication.

If you need medication urgently or your GP has previously declined shared care, Dr Kralimarkov can issue a private treatment on the day. We'll discuss what's right for your situation at the appointment.

Shared care is a formal arrangement where a private specialist (us) makes the diagnosis and treatment recommendation, and your NHS GP issues prescriptions and does routine monitoring. It's standard practice across the UK, recommended by NHS England and the BMA, and saves patients significant ongoing cost.

Will your GP accept it? Most do, particularly for common antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications. Some GPs decline shared care, especially for certain controlled medications — this isn't unreasonable, just inconvenient. If your GP declines, we'll continue private prescribing while you decide whether to find a different GP or pay privately ongoing.

Initial consultations are usually available the same week, often within a few days. This compares to NHS community mental health team waits which can run from weeks to many months for non-crisis adult mental health referrals.

Yes — consultations are confidential under GMC professional standards and UK GDPR. The default is that we share a clinical letter only with your NHS GP (since shared care is part of our model). Nothing is shared with employers, family or anyone else without your written consent.

There are narrow legal exceptions: if there's a serious immediate risk to your life or someone else's, or in rare court-ordered situations, the duty to act overrides confidentiality. Dr Kralimarkov would discuss this with you first wherever possible.

Yes — secure video consultations are available at the same price. For initial consultations we generally prefer in-person where practical, since mental state examination benefits from being in the same room, but video works well for follow-ups and is fine for initials when in-person isn't possible.

Yes, from 16 years old upwards. A parent or carer can attend with the young person if they'd like, or the young person can attend alone — we'll discuss what works at booking. For under-16s, we recommend going to a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) or a paediatric psychiatrist; we'll point you to appropriate options.

Yes — second opinions are a common reason to see a private psychiatrist. Bring any letters, prescription records or reports you have from previous clinicians. Dr Kralimarkov will review them carefully, do his own assessment, and give you an honest view in writing — whether that confirms the previous diagnosis, refines it, or disagrees.

Only if you want it to. Our standard practice is to write to your NHS GP because that's how shared care works — and that letter would be added to your NHS record. If you'd prefer the consultation stays entirely private and not on your NHS record, tell us at booking. There are trade-offs: no GP letter means no shared care for prescriptions, and your future NHS clinicians won't see the assessment. We'll talk through what's right for you.

A private outpatient psychiatry appointment isn't built for acute crisis — please use 999 for life-threatening emergencies, NHS 111 (press option 2) for urgent mental health support, or Samaritans 116 123 for immediate listening. We can support you once you're stable and out of immediate crisis — that's our role.