London Medical - Knightsbridge Doctors

[KnightAndMagpie 7]

Apparantly it is mandatory now but it is for AOS, I did ask knightbridge about it and they said no they did not do it, which is a pain

Damian has had it done, he found somewhere that does it and paid to have it done, he did give me the name of them but there was no where near me and as you have to go back 2 days later to get the results I was not gonna bother, so lost the name of them now hahaha go aks Daymo

Oh blah. Another expense to add...I have to get my HPV over there too, so I wonder if they'll do it all on the same day.

Thankums for the warning, the doc didn't mention it.

Magpie.

[Stinky Monkey 1]

Apparantly it is mandatory now but it is for AOS, I did ask knightbridge about it and they said no they did not do it, which is a pain

Damian has had it done, he found somewhere that does it and paid to have it done, he did give me the name of them but there was no where near me and as you have to go back 2 days later to get the results I was not gonna bother, so lost the name of them now hahaha go aks Daymo

Oh blah. Another expense to add...I have to get my HPV over there too, so I wonder if they'll do it all on the same day.

Thankums for the warning, the doc didn't mention it.

Magpie.

hon if you are having the HPV done there might as well do the scratch test at the same time, I am not at aos stage yet so I am no expert, it is just what I have read sweetums

[KnightAndMagpie 7]

hon if you are having the HPV done there might as well do the scratch test at the same time, I am not at aos stage yet so I am no expert, it is just what I have read sweetums

Well, you've never let me down, so I'll get it done together. Better to be safe than sorry.

Hugs!

Magpie.

[frali 2]

I’ve dreaded the medical since I first read about the K-1. Not only is there the blood test, but the fact you might learn you have some horrible disease you never knew you had. Still, it’s gotta be done, right?

I left home this morning just before 9am. It’s one of those times I really appreciate only living 2 hours from London. I’d spent the night previous suddenly remembering things I’d need to take along to the medical. Like my passport, vaccination records, and a passport photo. I double checked that I knew where I was going - Bentinck Mansions on Bentinck Street. It was the second of the two possible locations shown on the pdf from the embassy website.

I travelled in to London Victoria as I live in the South East. Then I took the Victoria line north one stop to Green Park, followed by another one stop journey north on the Jubilee line to get to Bond Street. Upon reaching street level I became painfully aware that the maps provided in the pdf document are pretty rubbish. Bond Street, the closest station, is on the very edge of the map. This makes orientating yourself very difficult as you‘ve essentially only got half of a map. Also, many roads are missing and there’s not a lot of detail. The map doesn’t quite capture the kinks in the road so what you’re looking at in the street doesn’t translate to what you see on the map. I’d recommend going to streetmap.co.uk and printing off a map at 1:2500 scale - at this level of detail, all roads are marked, even the little dead-end ones, and it also shows large shops like HMV for use as landmarks.

I took the liberty of photographing a simple route from Bond Street Tube station. From Bond Street you can come out on either side of Oxford Street. If you’re on the side with Footlocker, you need to be on the other side - the one HMV is on. Marylebone Lane forks onto Oxford Street opposite Footlocker, so there’s actually two turnings you could take (the map I had only showed one), both leading to the same place. It’s basically just a back-road and looks like this:

(note the multi-storey car-park with the lattice design on the side)

The end of the road looks like a dead-end, but keep going. The road continues on an offset but again the map doesn’t show you this. Wigmore Street is the intersecting road. At the end of Marylebone Lane you should be able to see the ####### & Lion pub:

Once you get to the end, standing on Wigmore Street and opposite the ####### & Lion, look to your half left and you will see that Marylebone Lane continues on the other side, curving around to the right. You need to keep going down that road:

(the road the cyclist is going down)

Continue down Marylebone Lane, and you will come to Bentinck Street, which crosses it left to right. Knightsbridge Doctors is in the building on the right corner nearest you. Take a right on Bentinck Street to get to the entrance:

The front of the building looks like this:

(I took this from across the street, opposite the road I’d come down. The door the lady with the pink stroller is emerging fromis the one you want.)

As you can see, there’s no big signs advertising their location, so it’s best to go by door numbers if you end up approaching from a different direction.

The door works on a buzzer system. Usually they just buzz you straight through, but when I arrived they said they were on a lunch break and to come back about 12:45. I must say I wasn’t impressed. I guessed this was my first taste of the snotty, arrogant conduct I’d read about in some of the other VJ reviews. I stood off on Wigmore Street for half an hour, counting cycle couriers and Japanese tourists, then came back for another try. This time I was buzzed straight in. At reception, I was asked to provide my medical questionnaire and passport photo, passport, and vaccination record, and then was asked to take a seat in the adjacent waiting room.

I didn’t have to wait too long, although I was prepared and had brought a couple of books with me! Soon I was called to see the nurse, who told me what vaccinations I was lacking. It was only the MMR that I needed, and I opted to have it there and then at a supplemental cost of £35. I’m okay with jabs - it was the blood test I was dreading! I was told I might come out with a fever, sore throat and lumps around the neck over the next few days. The nurse seemed quite professional, and certainly willing to answer questions.

After that I sat in a different waiting room for a few minutes until I was called by the radiologist. I was told to remove all clothing above the waist and press my chest against the plate with my hands in the small of the back to make a chicken-like posture - this is to get the shoulder blades out of the way. I knew the plate would be cold from reading another VJ post. But the doctor was cheerful and warm-hearted which more than made up for it! The lights went off, then on again and it was all done.

I returned to the first waiting room and watched a few other people get called. Then an attractive young lady called me and I followed, assuming she was a receptionist. She was in fact the doctor! I thanked whatever gods were smiling down on me for having given me a cute blonde doctor. In the room she sat me down and gave me a quick medical history interview - “Have you had this” and “Have you done that” - and I gave all ‘no’s, then apologised for having had a boring life!

The doctor asked me to remove my shoes, then she weighed me and measured my height. I guess she got a kind of ‘average’, as I wasn’t slouching but neither was I standing up as straight as I could have. If I had, she might not have been able to reach the top bar! She clocked me at 183cm.

She then asked me to stand behind a curtain and remove all but my boxer shorts. When I was finished I peered around the corner and caught her browsing on Facebook! I told her I was ready and she told me to lie down. My heart was pumping, getting a real workout, as I had no idea what tests to expect or when the blood test was going to happen. She took my pulse from my wrist - I’m guessing she rounded it to the nearest 100 bpm - then put the blood pressure thing on my arm and pumped me up to about 1300 psi. After that she listened to my heart with a stethoscope. All the while she didn’t say a word, until she announced she was going to lift the top of my boxer shorts. She asked me to cough and I did, while she checked for signs of any hernias. Again, without saying a word, she put a strap round my right arm. This was the bit I feared most - the blood test. I resigned myself to just let it happen.

Amazingly, I didn’t even feel light-headed afterwards. Perhaps she took more than one vial of blood but if she did, I didn’t notice her change bottles. I don’t know if lying down helped, or whether it was being almost naked and/or in the presence of an extremely hot doctor. Either way, it was a blood test masterfully administered!

As many others have stated, the most painful bit is paying! My bill came to £215 in total. I left the doctor’s feeling so very happy. Some of the reviews I’d read had been quite negative. I’d gone in there expecting to be treated abruptly and rudely and had been treated very well indeed. I guess there’s something to be said for that - if you go in there expecting poor treatment, anything better is a bonus. For those of you yet to take your medical, I wish you the best of luck and hope that you are blessed with the same level of care I received today!

I wanted to bump this thread for other people's benefit.

Also, I am guessing the pretty blonde doctor you refer to is the South African doctor?

[Stinky Monkey 1]

hahahaha well I am sure that it aint the Irish one

[KnightAndMagpie 7]

hahahaha well I am sure that it aint the Irish one

I got the lovely lady doc too, the South African one. She was so interesting to talk to and it made up for the snotty receptionist.

Magpie.

[Stinky Monkey 1]

hahahaha well I am sure that it aint the Irish one

I got the lovely lady doc too, the South African one. She was so interesting to talk to and it made up for the snotty receptionist.

Magpie.

It is shocking but the receptionist was really nice to me, maybe coz they were just about to break up for Christmas

[Laura+Tom 2]

Due you think I'd be able to book a medical for June now? Or would they make me wait a couple more months? I want to book it before I go away.

[Rob&Dawn 1]

Hi all

Saw the posts about TB tests...

I called Dr Arnolds office in Texas as they will transcribe the immunisations for AOS for $30 onto the I-693.

I was asked my age and told i would only need to have upto date immunisations for MMR, Tetanus & Varicella! So unless they've ballsed up i dont need the TB skin test???

Worth calling their office when you arrive stateside before paying for any more injections that they dont require to complete the I-693.

[Talyss 0]

If you look at the instructions on the I-693 k1 and K3 visas only need to complete part 1, the vaccine section of part2 and part 5. The TST is in another section of part2 not the vaccine section so we K1 and K3s don't seem to need it for now. This is the updated I-693 with the references to the new vaccionation schedule and the TST test.

how did you manage to get hold of them. I rang and left a message Tuesday, but they didn't ring back so I rang again today but still just the answer machine

[Rob&Dawn 1]

If you look at the instructions on the I-693 k1 and K3 visas only need to complete part 1, the vaccine section of part2 and part 5. The TST is in another section of part2 not the vaccine section so we K1 and K3s don't seem to need it for now. This is the updated I-693 with the references to the new vaccionation schedule and the TST test.

how did you manage to get hold of them. I rang and left a message Tuesday, but they didn't ring back so I rang again today but still just the answer machine

Mmm something going my way at last!! lol

I got a call back within 2hours, i was surprised as i thought it would be days as i'd seen other people reporting! Got all the info they need to have it sent in by post if you want it??

[H&V 5]

Howdy all, I have my medical in less than 2 weeks, and although I tried to be really prepared and 4 weeks before asked my GP for my vaccination card and letter of explanation (I have some allergies etc.) they have been absolutely abysmal at doing this, i.e. multiple phone calls, losing stuff, finding it again, left hand not knowing what the right hand's doing and I could go on.....but anyway my question is if I don't have this stuff in time, can I still go ahead and do the medical? I'd like to get it out the way, and I saw pothergavel had his vaccinations done after and then faxed the report to Knightsbridge, do you think it will be ok to do this for any explanations they want as well? It's just the letter says to bring them both with you - but it sounds like you could actually send them afterwards instead? Any thoughs appreciated, cheers

Edited March 21, 2009 by H&V

[Marty J 0]

I think if they want anything else from you, you can just send it in. I'm pretty sure you don't have to go back and have another medical. It'll make life simpler if you take it all with you though; I would turn up at my doctor's and say I'll wait while they got my stuff for me.

My medical is on Tuesday. It's the first time I've ever been to London, and the first time I've been in England since I was 5, so it's pretty exciting.

I have to get a flight at 6 am though, which isn't so exciting!

Edited March 21, 2009 by Marty J

[Laura+Tom 2]

Technically the vaccinations don't have to be done until AOS, and the people at the medical know this, but sometimes it better for you to get them done so it's one less thing to think about. You can tell them you are getting them done on the NHS or you can say you will be getting them when you arrive in the US. I know I'll be getting the HPV vaccine in the US as it's much cheaper. To be honest I have no idea why they would want you to fax them if you had them done afterwards as it's not like the vaccinations are mandatory for the interview.

Edited March 21, 2009 by Laura+Tom

[Marty J 0]

To be honest I have no idea why they would want you to fax them if you had them done afterwards as it's not like the vaccinations are mandatory for the interview.

Don't they put all your vaccinations on some form that you can us at AoS?

Or did I imagine that?