London Medical - Knightsbridge Doctors

[Glyn and Kathy 288]

Hi all. Just got back from London. Glyn had his medical today at Bentinck Mansions. His appointment was for 3:10 and of course since I am paranoid about being late we ended up sitting across the street at the pub for an hour with diet coke in hand. Finally went over at about 14:45 and they let us right in. Gave us the forms to fill in. Glyn was called in after about 10 min. Had his chest x-ray. Sent into another waiting room. About 15 minutes later the male doctor whom Glyn thinks may be Irish came and got him. Not even 30 minutes later he was done. No problems. Asked about his anxiety and said that he would put on his record that he has General Anxiety Disorder and not to worry about it (we had a note from his GP).He needed no jabs as he had them at his GP yesterday. All in all it went well, but it was a long day. We got off the tube at Oxford Circus and missed the turn for Marlybone Lane. If I had my way, we would have still been walking down Oxford Street. Good thing Glyn is better with directions than me and I have promised to leave the navigating to him from now on.

Very hot and sticky now so we feel yucky and are both going to go have something cool to drink.

[VisaJourneyLady 33]

Thought I should add my medical review before I forgot all about it.

The few notable things about my medical were;

When I arrived I was a little bit late, so I was delighted to find the office is not as advertised on the outside, on the 4th floor, it was on the ground floor. I had forgotton to fill in my questionaire, I just took it to the waiting room, and handed in to them when I was finished. Shortly after I had to fill another one in, with mostly similar questions on it. Also had to sign that it was ok for them to test my blood for HIV.

Was called in to the nurse next. Handed over my booklet with my vaccinations. She told me that I had some outstanding, and I told her I was scheduled to have them that afternoon. She seemed happy enough with that, and I was sent to a second waiting room to wait for the doctor.

The Doctor was a youngish Irish guy. He seemed nice enough. He chatted throughout the medical, asked about where I was going etc. I was weighed, height measured, he ran through the questions on the forms I filled out. No history of any disease, ever been in hospital, smoked, done drugs etc. He asked my to sit on the exam bed. I was wondering when I had to take my top off and whether there would be a chaperone, but no. Checked my breathing, lay down, had to undo my jeans button for some kind of test, but never got the 'knickers check'. I suppose the guy thought that a nice Irish girl like me wouldn't lie about that!!!

Back to the second waiting room for a bit, and off to the chest xray guy. He put me behind a screen and I stripped to my waist and put on a gown. Stood in a funny postition and had the chest xray. The guy was chatting on all the time, in what sounded like a well rehearsed bit of chatter. Waited for a few minutes while he got the xray processed. He came in and had a look at it. Decided everything was fine, and I could get dressed.

Went back to the receptionists to pay, meanwhile I hear the xray guy repeat his entire spiel to another person. I put my credit card further in to the red, and left the building.

[Roselinda 5]

ooh. that xray guy. lol

if he's the same middle aged-ish kind that did mine he went one better with me.

as i've been somewhat overly blessed in the breast department he had to redo my xray. he then proceeded to tell me that his wife was a 38dd.

all i could say was ''really'' that must be nice for you.

oh and by the way the whole experience cost me, for my son and myself £270

and also meant that i had to force myself to not go into any of the shops i passed on the way making mental notes of what i wanted to buy.

lol!

[bbpatel 0]

Hi all

I had my medical at Bentick Mansions today. The X-ray guy is lovely, he really puts you at ease.

I had to have the HPV; the nurse told me all about it, and she was equally nice. That was first, after the form filling. I only waited about 15 minutes.

Then they move you to a smaller waiting room, where I waited for 3/4 minutes...

I had a female doctor, and she was really nice;she admired my wedding ring, said it was gorgeous (thanks to my hubby!)

She asked me some q's, but I have a clean bill of health,so was pretty straightforward. She did the checks which was fine and she didn't make me feel uncomfortable, even though I naturally was a tad, just because, but best to go to your happy place for that 3-4 minutes and it's all over! Took some blood, height and weight measurements, then waiting room.

The cheery xray guy did his bit, and told me all about some of the strange people he's met who are going to LA - he said I seemed quite normal, and hoped I would fit in. I also got to see my chest x-rays, which was sightly eery, but it looked like what I remember in biology, so i'm ok with it

Its the same as everyone else, so i won't go into much detail, and it only took less than 1 hour.

It all cost me £300, which was slightly painful, but whatever, I just want it done with! Roll on interview next thursday.

Just wanted to say I'm so glad I read all your posts before I went; it helped with the orientation and made me more at ease...wonder what those who have not discovered VJ do to calm themselves? Maybe the pub across the road has something to do with it

[Martin&Nat 0]

Hey

Just got back from my medical at Bentinck Mansions - really wasn't looking forward to it as I have a 'thing' about needles and doctors in general. Anyway, I walked in and had to hand over my passport, a photo and the medical questionnaire. I then sat in the waiting room and was asked to fill in another questionnaire about previous illnesses, and had to sign a consent form for the HIV test.

I was then seen by a nurse who said I needed two vaccinations but could have them done at my GP or in the US when I adjust status. I knew I would get stabbed in a few minutes with the blood test needle, so I decided to get them out of the way right there and then. I warned the nurse that I have been known to pass out after receiving injections in the past, she was fine with that and simply moved me to another room and had me lie down whilst giving me the injections.

Afterwards (no passing out this time), I then had my X-Ray taken and went back to the waiting room. The X-Ray lady then came back and said she needed to do it again as the plate she used wasn't big enough and didn't include the whole of my chest (not sure if that means I am fatter than she initially thought!).

After that, I was seen by the Irish doctor - he really puts you at ease, which was good as I think that perhaps for the first time ever I was able to give a blood pressure reading that wasn't influenced by anxiety! I was measured, weighed, had my ears and eyes looked into, had my chest and heart listened to, was poked and prodded and he took a quick visual 'down below'. He took the blood which was absolutely painless; I had worked myself up over nothing.

That was about it - all in all I guess I was done in around an hour.

- Martin

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Medical June 3, 2008 - Bentinck Mansion

My fiance' had his medical today and said it was very easy. His appointment was for 1:10 and he arrived at the scene quite early so had tea and a sandwich at a nice cafe on Marylebone Lane. He went in at 12:45. He said to tell you that it says FLAT 4 on the building, so FL 4 isn't 4th floor. They started processing him immediately even though he was actually 25 min early.

X-ray: as described by others. The thing you hold behind your back is a lead shield to protect your lower parts from the x-rays.

Medical exam: He had the Irish doctor mentioned in other posts. His name is Owen Waters. (He saw the "lady Asian doctor" referred to and said she had Asian features, but had frizzy blonde hair and was dressed a bit tarty for a doctor in his estimation.) LOL. He didn't take off any clothes. All the checks others have described were done. He had to undo his pants and Dr. Waters just lifted the underwear waistband and did a quick peek below. He later asked if fiance' had been circumcised, so I guess he didn't do much looking.

Immunization: He wanted to have everything done before immigrating so had gotten MMR jab at National Health doctor and took updated records also noting he had chickenpox disease. As it turns out a new US requirement (Feb '08 nurse said) not on the website or the Packet 3 paper is adults must have the DTaP shot. (Diptheria, Tetnus, acellular Pertussis) Pertussis is whooping cough and the nurse said that's the new US concern. It also takes care of the requirement for the tetnus booster. Since his interview is awhile off, he is going to National Health for the shot. They don't have to do Visa shots for free, but his MMR was free. Nurse said for his doctor to fax them when he's had the shot and they will add it to the record and send everything on to the embassy at that time. They will also mail him a complete record of his immunizations.

Photo note: Packet 3 says in two places to have a US sized (2x2) photo for the medical. He had some photos already, but only 2 for the embassy and a smaller British size for the medical. He took one of each size and asked the nurse which one. She took the smaller one and said we have to cut the others down anyway to fit on the form they give us. So if you happen to have an extra British size passport photo, it is acceptable at the medical.

[debbylyn 0]

Barry also went for his medical yesterday and also had the Irish doctor. He said the doctor was very friendly and they chatted a bit about what sort of work he does, what he plans on doing in the States and where in the US he was going to be living. The doctor went over all the questions on the form Barry had filled out. He said everything went smoothly and he was out of there in no time.

As for the photo....He took American and British passport photos also and gave them the British size, which was fine...good thing so he can save the 2 US size ones for the interview!

[HikerMark 5]

Medical June 3, 2008 - Bentinck Mansion

Immunization: He wanted to have everything done before immigrating so had gotten MMR jab at National Health doctor and took updated records also noting he had chickenpox disease. As it turns out a new US requirement (Feb '08 nurse said) not on the website or the Packet 3 paper is adults must have the DTaP shot. (Diptheria, Tetnus, acellular Pertussis) Pertussis is whooping cough and the nurse said that's the new US concern. It also takes care of the requirement for the tetnus booster. Since his interview is awhile off, he is going to National Health for the shot. They don't have to do Visa shots for free, but his MMR was free. Nurse said for his doctor to fax them when he's had the shot and they will add it to the record and send everything on to the embassy at that time. They will also mail him a complete record of his immunizations.

That is interesting as I raised this topic a couple of weeks ago and there was a lot of confusion about whether DTaP was required, with some UK doctor's practices thinking the P meant polio. Please let us know if your fiance does get it on the NHS as my practice nurse has never heard of the DTaP vaccination and doesn't think it is available on the NHS. At "only" £25 I will probably have mine done at the medical in London. My local NHS doctor has already fleeced me £25 for the MMR jab and £25 for the immunisation certificate.

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Immunization: He wanted to have everything done before immigrating so had gotten MMR jab at National Health doctor and took updated records also noting he had chickenpox disease. As it turns out a new US requirement (Feb '08 nurse said) not on the website or the Packet 3 paper is adults must have the DTaP shot. (Diptheria, Tetnus, acellular Pertussis) Pertussis is whooping cough and the nurse said that's the new US concern. It also takes care of the requirement for the tetnus booster. Since his interview is awhile off, he is going to National Health for the shot. They don't have to do Visa shots for free, but his MMR was free. Nurse said for his doctor to fax them when he's had the shot and they will add it to the record and send everything on to the embassy at that time. They will also mail him a complete record of his immunizations.

Hi. Wanted to get this in before it gets too far away from the original post. This is some further info I have learned in the last few hours.

(Background: Before medical, the NHS doc looked at immigration sheet and said you've had all of this you need. The Knightsbridge nurse said no as quoted above.)

In a document from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) it explains it a little more. DTaP or DTP is a series that babies/children get. Tdap is a formulation for adolescents and adults and is a booster for those who had the series as children. I believe that Tdap is the one to get even though she wrote DTaP on his paper to take back to NHS doc. Wondering now if that practice would even have that particular shot since it's probably not widely used. In hindsight, getting it at Knightsbridge might have been a better plan. He has not been back to NHS practice yet to report what they say, but wanted to put in this disclaimer to my previous post asap.

This is from the CDC

Acellular pertussis-containing vaccines are available for use in persons at least 10 years of age. The adolescent and adult formulation of tetanus and diphtheria toxoid and acellular pertussis (Tdap) vaccine is given as a single (booster) dose for persons 10 through 64 years of age who have completed the recommended childhood diphtheria and tetanus toxoids and the pertussis/diphtheria and tetanus toxoids and acellular pertussis (DTP/DTaP) vaccine series.

It comes from this long document. http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dq/pdf/ti_vacc.pdf which is everything you want to know about vaccines. See page 12-14 for a good chart of requirements. In small type on page 12 is this which is more information than Packet 3 sheet gives you

DTP=diphtheria and tetanus toxoids and pertussis vaccine; DTaP=diphtheria and tetanus toxoids and acellular pertussis vaccine; DT=pediatric formulation diphtheria and tetanus toxoids; Td=adult formulation tetanus and diphtheria toxoids; Tdap=adolescent and adult formulation tetanus and diphtheria toxoids and acellular pertussis vaccine (Boostrix for persons 10−18 years old; Adacel for persons 11−64 years old)

That's all I know for now.

[Kim and Nath 0]

Hello VJers!

I had my medical yesterday with Knightsbridge Doctors, 10-11 Bulstrode Place, London. The time of appointmet was 2:45pm.

I had booked my flight tickets with RyanAir, from Glasgow Prestwick Airport to London Stansted. Here's how the day went:

Woke up at 7am, got to Glasgow Central Station at 8am to catch the 8:20 train to Prestwick Airport. Arrived at Prestwick at 9:30am to catch flight to London Stansted at 10:20am

The flight arrived at London ahead of schedule at around 11:15am, took the Stansted Express to London Liverpool Street, which took about 55 minutes. Arrived at London Liverpool Street at 12:57pm, hundreds of Barcelona fans here to see the Chelsea-Barcelona Champions League (football/soccer) clash tomorrow. Go Chelsea!!!

I had two options from London Liverpool Street Underground: Regent's Park Underground or Great Portland Street Underground. I took the Tube to Great Portland Street as it required no changes and was the shorter route. Here are some pictures for you guys (took them from my phone, so they're not great)

So here's where I got off, Great Portland St. Underground. Knightsbridge Doctors are hardly 10-min walk from here, so no need to pay a taxi unless you are really rich, in which case buy me the ticket to USA

If you stand where I am standing (use the nice building with pillars in the background as reference point), start walking in the opposite direction, keep walking until you see Devonshire Street...turn right onto Devonshire Street (sorry didnt take pics of that). Keep walking down Devonshire Street, you should see Embassy of Turkey and Chile. Keep walking until you can go no further. You will now see Marylebone High Street and you can either turn right or left onto it...turn LEFT onto Marylebone High Street. Here's a view of if below

Keep walking down this street until you see Marylebone Lane on your left. Enter Marylebone Lane, after less than 30 seconds of walking, u will see a small alley. Thats your destination, Bulstrode Place! (see pics below)

That little blue sign board outside is the entrance to Alliance Medical Imaging Centre, go in there and head straight to the 2nd Floor!

I had my little Acer n35 PDA with GPS Navigation so it wasnt too hard to find the place.

They gave me a form to fill in, then took a chest x-ray after a while. Then another nurse comes and takes me into another room to discuss vaccinations. Since I didnt have any previous records, I was given 2 jabs, one for MMR and other for Tetanus; one on each arm. The MMR really stings when it goes inside u...ouch!

I mentioned to the lady that I would require the DS-3025 for vaccinations and she didnt have a clue. I told her its needed in the USA for AOS process. Then she told me that they will give me a copy of vaccination record which will be sent to the embassy and showed me the form. It did look like the DS-3025, hopefully that is whats needed.

Then the docotor saw me, was a nice guy from South Africa. Asked me to read a board on the wall to check my eyesight, then looked in to my ears and throat, measure my weight and height...and took blood from my left arm...that's the third time i got stabbed but if that is what it takes to be with my sweetheart then so be it, she's worth it so I wont complain.

They said that results of X-Ray and blood sample will come in a day and they will then forward everything to the Embassy.

So that was it, all over in about 80 minutes. Thank God for another step being completed smoothly. Just one more step to go...can not wait to become husband to lovely Christine!

I love u honey!!! Thank u for pushing me to take the pictures

Good luck to all!

Jahan.

Wow...thanks for all the wonderful info, with pictures no less! I'll forward this on to my finace so he knows what to expect!

Thanks again!

[elmcitymaven 9,712]

Wow...thanks for all the wonderful info, with pictures no less! I'll forward this on to my finace so he knows what to expect!

Thanks again!

Just to warn you... that info is out of date (2006!), as are the pictures. You're best off looking at the more recent info in this thread. You don't want your fiance wandering off into some dark alley! Anything from 2008 will be more useful.

[snowfrostedlashes 0]

Medical June 18, 2008 - Bentinck Mansions

Managed to make my way there from Paddington without mishap despite my general lack of a sense of direction, so it must be easy to find!

My appointment was at 13:00 but I arrived at 12:50 and this didn't seem to be a problem.

Handed in my passport, a british passport photo (I offered an american style one but they wanted the british one), the completed form from packet 3, details of the MMR and Tdap I had done at my local GP recently - this clearly showed that I had a single shot containing tetanus diphtheria and polio - and then I sat in the waiting room and completed another form very similar to the one in packet 3 and signed the form for HIV testing.

X-ray: seemed straightforward, then I got dressed again and went back to the waiting room.

Medical exam: I had the pleasant Irish doctor Owen Waters who has been mentioned in other posts. He was really nice and even helped me get off one of my boots when the zip stuck! He asked me basically all the same questions as were on the form about whether I had ever had any major operations or illnesses, whether I had ever suffered from diabetes, had I had chickenpox, etc. then he weighed me, measured my height, and did a very basic eye test - just had to read the second row from the bottom on the chart, which was easy with my glasses on (I could read the bottom row but this was not asked of me!). Then he sat me on the bed and took my blood pressure, chatted to me a little bit about where I was headed in America, listened to my heart, got me to raise my arms and tapped my armpits once lightly. Then he looked in my ears and throat, before asking me to lay down and then he apparently took the pulse at my ankles, although quite how he managed to do that through my thick fluffy pink socks I'm not sure. After that he prodded my abdomen quite thoroughly and got me to cough while he did it.

I was only wearing a vest-style top with a bra underneath and evidently he didn't feel the need to examine my female parts in any closer detail, so no breast exam, and no checking to make sure I didn't secretly have a #######!

Then he took blood from my arm, which he managed first time even though my veins are small and lots of doctors have trouble hitting a vein first time, so full props to him for that one.

I was very surprised and pleasantly relieved that it was so straightforward. Although it really was odd to me that they didn't ask any questions about cervical smear tests or things like that (I had details with me in case I was asked). To be honest, it really didn't seem like a very thorough medical, but evidently it was all that was required.

Then I went back to the waiting room while he handed my file to reception and then a few minutes later they called me to pay the fee and gave me a sheet showing my vaccination status, where they had filled in the information I had provided and noted that my vaccination record is incomplete but that I was eligible for a waiver since none of the other items are age appropriate (I'm 29).

No mention was made of my needing a booster for Pertussis, nor was this shown on the form they gave me as being a requirement.

[pandora 0]

Medical June 20, 2008 - Bentinck Mansions

Left birmingham with my daughter on 11am train - train was delayed outside london so was late arriving. Rather than drag here around london lookin for the place we hopped in a taxi at euston station cost us £10

Got to the doctors office just before out time at 1.30. went into the building the doctors office if on the right, handed over all relevant paperwork including vaccination evidence from local GP and we went and sat in the waiting room. HAd to complete other forms for myself and my daughter which was similar to the ones we had handed over and signed the consent form for the HIV blood test.

Got called for my chest xray which i was really nervous about as i had a stinking chest cold, had to strip to waist and remove jewellery and put on blue front fastening gown, got xrayed and weighed, when that was done went and rejoined my daughter in the waiting room.

A little while later got called in to see Dr Waters where he weighed and measured me ( wow i lost 2kg from being xrayed to being weighed again ) I wish that was so true, ( hehehehe), had my blood pressure and my blood taken hopped onto the bed so he could listen to my heart and chest and check my ears , then had to lie down so he could press on my tummy

HE was a really nice guy and we talked a little. Finally he did the sight test and told him i wear glasses so he asked me to put them on thats when i explained they were with my daughter in my bad he then went and got my daughter for her medical fortunately for her shes only 10 so no xray and no blood test.

She was pretty well behaved couldnt cough on request cant say that i have ever heard her cough for the sake of it so she was having trouble then he checked her ears heart and chest and pressed on her tummy which she wasn't impresssed with and he explained that he was jsut checkin to see if she had a hernia.

We then went back and sat in the waiting room again so that we could see the nurse about the vaccinations, mine were fine, but i had forgot to get my daughter the hep b so have to get that done and fax the paperwork back to the doctors so they can complete the vaccination form.

we were there for about 2 hours altogether and the nurse apologised for the delays as they were a member of staff short that day.

so all in all was ok.

Took kids away on saturday for a mini cruise as my son wont be coming with us, so i rang my brother on the Tuesday when i had a uk signal on my phone to find out the Doctor had left a message for me to ring, rang and found out they didnt have enough blood and rebooked for after my interview on 8th july. After some thought rang back today and rebooked for next monday so yay another trip to london just as they didnt take enough blood

So hopefully that one will be quicker and hope i dont get another bruise from the needle

So for children the medical is very simple height, weight, ears, heart, chest, tummy think that was all he did and for a loverly charge of £90

[T and M 1]

Hi all,

Thank you for all the help, advice, information, and support. Milena had her medical on Wednesday morning, so here is our report!:

We were a bit late, and as my wife likes shopping, she said, "Hey, Selfridges is between Marble Arch and Bond Street. Maybe we could save some time by hopping off one stop early!" Bad idea. The turn, Marylebone Lane, is definitely just at the Bond Street stop. I should have checked my maps. Anyway, the clinic called us and we begged to give us a bit of extra time. Running down Oxford Street in the rain, we finally found Marylebone Lane (lovely little street), and turned north. It was indeed after Wigmore, but we missed the turn as we were looking at the street signs on the left, and Bentwick goes off to the right. Anyway, we arrived at Bentwick Mews, found no clinic, called, and were sent back one block to Bentwick Street. (This all is pretty typical for us....always late, always lost, but maybe telling the story will help someone else from making the same mistake...!)

They were merciful, although not pleased. We gave them the form and her passport, and they gave us a very similar form which asked a few more details, as other VJers have testified to. Milena went in for the doctor's examination, which was fairly laid back (the one surgery she has had in her life was apparently "fairly common," according to the doc. We then went to the x-ray room, where the doctor explained that, since she was two weeks late, the possibility existed that she was pregnant. We went ahead with the x-ray, since I had already read about the potential dangers, but the nurse would not give us the MMR vaccination until she received confirmation from our GP that she was not pregnant. She said that Milena would be approved once she received from our GP confirmation that she had 1) received the Polio vaccine, and 2) that she was either pregnant, or that she had received the MMR.

Well, she is pregnant! We found out in our GPs office, old school style. It was amazing. We had been trying (half-heartedly) for a few months, but her cycle had become so irregular we didn't think much for the two weeks late. We thought we would try harder this fall, but we were pleasantly surprised!!!!!!

So, our GP gave Milena the Polio vaccine but not the (live) MMR, and later faxed the info to Bentwick Mansions. I called today and Bentwick mansions informed me that they have forwarded her info to the embassy...that Milena has passed!

We couldn't be more pleased about the way things are going, the happy news of the pregnancy, and our impending interview on the 18th! This process was painful, but it appears to be nearing a very very happy conclusion.

Once again to all, thanks!

[Alex & Rachel 78]

Aw! What a sweet story. Congratulations!