Someone rings with the instructions for a visa medical open in front of them and our clinic 10 minutes from their front door. They have been asked to have a medical for Canada, Australia or the United States, and they would rather see a doctor nearby than cross London to a clinic they do not know. It is a sensible instinct, and the answer still has to be no. It is kinder to say so in the first minute of the call.
So the real question is which panel physician London has for your country, and whether a GP can usefully do anything before you go. Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United States accept an immigration medical only from doctors on their own approved lists, called panel physicians. Clinique Alpa doctors are not panel physicians and cannot do those examinations. Some of the work around them, though, is ordinary general practice.
Chest pain, signs of a stroke, severe breathlessness, heavy bleeding, a severe allergic reaction or symptoms of sepsis need 999 or A&E immediately. For urgent advice that cannot wait, call NHS 111.
How do I find the panel physician London has for my country?
Start with the instructions the country has given you, not with a search engine. Each of these countries names its own panel physicians, and the medical counts only if it is done by a doctor on that list. If a clinic offers to do the medical, check the doctor against the list before you pay for anything.
A letter from a private GP, however careful, does not replace the panel examination. It is a common assumption, and it can cost weeks. The examination itself belongs to the panel physician. My part, where there is one, comes before it.
If you are coming to the UK rather than leaving it, the rules are different again. A UK visa TB test must be done at a clinic approved by the UK Home Office, and Clinique Alpa is not one of those clinics either. I have set that out separately in who needs a UK visa TB test and where it is done.
What can a GP usefully check before a visa medical?
When someone books with me before a panel appointment, I start by reading the instructions with them. Not to interpret another country's rules, because those rules are not mine, but to see what the person has been asked to bring and what they will be asked to answer. After that, the time goes on 3 things: the history, any long term condition, and the records.
Your history, written down properly
Most people cannot give the year of their own operations without stopping to think, and very few can list every hospital admission. Under the mild pressure of a medical, details slip. So we go through it together: diagnoses and when they were made, operations, admissions, current treatment with doses, allergies, and anything treated abroad. We keep going until you have a list you can rely on.
The piece most people miss is the second layer. Someone with a past episode of depression, or an old diagnosis they would rather forget, sometimes asks whether they really need to mention it. My advice is always to give a full and accurate history. What I can do is help you describe it precisely: when it started, what treatment you had, how things are now, and what the records say.
Long term conditions, looked at before the date
If you live with high blood pressure, diabetes, asthma, a heart or kidney condition, or a mental health condition, I look at where it stands now. That means asking how you really are, examining you where it is relevant, measuring what should be measured and going through your recent results and current treatment. If something has drifted, it is better found 4 weeks before the panel appointment than on the day, because there is still time to see your own GP or your specialist about it.
This is about your health, not about passing anything. I cannot tell you what the panel physician will find or what any country will decide, and I will not pretend otherwise.
Records, including those from abroad
Records usually take longer to gather than people expect. Ask your NHS practice for copies of the parts you need as early as you can. Hospital letters, discharge summaries and specialist reports tend to be the most useful papers. If some of your care happened in another country, collect what you have now, in whatever language it is written, and keep the originals safe.
What I will not do is run a practice version of the panel examination, or write anything claiming you meet another country's immigration health rules. Those judgements are not mine to make.
What should I bring, and when should I see a doctor sooner?
For an appointment before a visa medical, bring:
- the instructions you were given for the medical, so we work from what was actually asked
- your current treatment in its original packaging, or a list of names and doses
- hospital letters, discharge summaries and specialist reports you already hold
- any records from care abroad, in whatever language they are in
- your vaccination record, if you have one
Do not wait for the panel appointment if a known condition is getting worse, or if something new is worrying you. A cough that has lasted 3 weeks or more, weight loss you cannot explain, or drenching night sweats should be seen by a doctor now, whether that is your NHS GP or us. Booking 3 to 4 weeks before the panel appointment usually leaves time to request records and act on anything we find.
How does Clinique Alpa help before an overseas visa medical?
We say plainly on the phone that we cannot do the panel examination, so nobody books under a misunderstanding. What we offer is a face to face clinic appointment of 30 minutes with a named doctor at 466 Green Lanes, Palmers Green, for £100. The time is used for your history, any long term condition and the records you bring. With your consent, a summary goes to your NHS GP afterwards, because this sits alongside your NHS care, not instead of it.
If a letter about a medical condition would genuinely help, we talk about it at the appointment. Letters are provided where clinically appropriate after assessment.
This is an independent clinical opinion. It cannot be written to a required conclusion and does not guarantee the outcome of any claim, application, exemption or hearing.
If you would like a wider look at your health before you leave, a health check before moving abroad covers that ground. The clinic is open Monday to Friday 09:00 to 20:00 and Sunday 09:30 to 17:30, and closed on Saturday.
Written by Dr Mitesh Parmar, MBBS MRCGP, Principal GP and Clinical Director at Clinique Alpa, 466 Green Lanes, Palmers Green, London N13 5PA. This article is general information, not personal medical advice. In an emergency call 999. For NHS advice call 111 or visit nhs.uk.