Medical Treatments and Surgery

After 6 months, all Benenden Health members become eligible to request assistance for Medical Treatment and Surgery for our 250 approved procedures, should the NHS waiting times be more than 5 weeks for the procedure you need. To request this service, you need a report from a consultant stating the CCSD* code for the procedure required and confirmation that the NHS waiting time for your appointment is more than 5 weeks.

What’s included

We can support the full cost of any treatment or surgery that we authorise and that takes place in one of our network of hospitals. This may include fees for surgeons, anaesthetists, operating theatres, accommodation, nursing, medical admission and specialist consultants as well as preoperative tests and post-operative physiotherapy, dressings or other consumables that are necessary.

Membership covers more than 250 common surgical procedures. See a full list of approved procedures

Broadly speaking, we cover procedures in the following specialist areas:

• General surgery (inc. hernias and gall bladder removal)
• Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT)
• Opthalmology (cataracts only)
• Gynaecology (inc. hysterectomy)
• Vascular (varicose veins only)
• Paediatrics
• Orthopaedics (primarily day case)
• Urology (inc. TURP)

What’s excluded

We can only provide surgery from our approved procedures list. Excluded procedures include surgeries related to cancer, heart or brain conditions or anything not on our approved procedures list. See a full list of approved procedures. We cannot provide this service for symptoms where we have authorised medical treatment or surgery in the previous two years.

Hospital Locations

We have a national network of 27 hospital facilities at which we can authorise your surgical and other treatment procedures. This may mean that members do not attend the same facility for surgery as they attend for diagnosis if this was also arranged by us.

Our treatment and surgery network includes our own Benenden Hospital located in Kent. In 2017, Benenden Hospital received the highest rating of ‘Outstanding’ from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) which is the independent regulator of health and social care in England.

Members living within our calculation of a 2 hour drive time of Benenden Hospital will undergo their treatment at Benenden Hospital*. Travel advice can be provided to members who are required to travel to Benenden Hospital.

*Subject to the availability of the required speciality.

CCSD is a standard coding system for all private medical procedures and is commonly used in the UK private medical sector. CCSD stands for Clinical Coding and Schedule Development.