Dr Karen Surridge

You are welcome to book an appointment via the website: www.DrSurridge.gi Selecting to book an appointment in the client portal will give you direct access to the clinic diary and you can see the availability for therapy sessions. If you only want to see the availability in the diary, it is not necessary to register or log-in to the client portal. If you want to book an appointment, you will then need to register by entering your email address and creating a password. You will need to log in with these details each time you use the client portal to see your appointments list, access your invoices and receipts, book an appointment, make a payment etc.

If you need to reset your password, you can do so from the “Log in” screen.

Please follow the instructions on the booking page regarding booking in the name of the person who is accessing the service. Twenty four hours after registering on the client portal, you will receive an email with a link to an onboarding form. You will receive automated emails that deliver: confirmation of registration confirmation of booking onboarding form invoices receipts appointment reminders payment reminders

Each individual needs to have their own client profile. The profile is a folder that holds your personal details. The profile links to your personal Electronic Patient Record (EPR). Your EPR is your health information that is stored on a secure database.

Appointments need to be booked in the name of the child receiving the service. Each child needs to have their own client profile that links to their own personal Electronic Patient Record (EPR). As the parent or legal guardian you can use your own email address to register the child, since communications would go via you, but the password you set needs to be unique to each child. Important: If you book the appointment under your name instead of your child’s name, then your child’s health data would inadvertently be placed into your own health records and this could present a data protection risk.

If you are already registered as two separate individuals on the client portal, then all you need to do is: Cancel the appointment that you booked in your own name. Re-book the appointment in your child’s name. However, if you registered your child under your own name instead of your child’s name, then your child’s health data would inadvertently be placed into your own health records and this could present a data protection risk. What you can do: Register your child in the client portal in their name with their client profile. You can use the same email address as the one you used to register yourself, however, the system will require a password unique to your child. Cancel the appointment that you booked in your own name. Re-book the appointment in your child’s name using the email address and password that are linked to their profile.

Appointments need to be booked in the name of the adult receiving the service, using the email address and password that are linked to their client profile. Important: Do not book their appointment in your name. Do not register their client profile in your name. Each adult requires an email address and a unique password. Each adult needs to have their own client profile that links to their own personal Electronic Patient Record (EPR). Please be aware that all communications and health data will be sent to the email address that is linked with their client profile. If you are registering another adult using your email address, then that adult needs to confirm that they are in agreement with you receiving their health data. Or, an arrangement needs to be in place confirming that you have authority to handle their personal information.

It is frequently the case that an agreement is made between adults for one to pay for the other’s appointments (such as in the case of children who are over the age of 18). In these cases, the procedure is as follows: The registered individual receives all communications, including invoices, to their email address – this is the email address that is linked with their client profile and their password. The registered individual forwards the email with the payment link to the person who is paying the invoice.

If you book the appointment under your own name instead of their name, then the other adult’s health data would inadvertently be placed into your own health records, and this could present a data protection risk. If you have done this by accident, please see the section below entitled “Help! I booked another adult’s appointment in my own name by accident!”

If there is a legal arrangement such as power of attorney or legal guardian status, the procedure would work the same as it does in the case of children. The adult still needs their own health record under their name, as is the case with children. Please be aware that all communications and health data will be sent to the email address that is linked with their client profile. If you are registering another adult using your email address, then that adult needs to confirm that they are in agreement with you receiving their health data. Or, an arrangement needs to be in place confirming that you have authority to handle their personal information.

If you are already registered as two separate individuals on the client portal, then all you need to do is: Cancel the appointment that you booked in your own name. Re-book the appointment in the other adult’s name. However: If you have mistakenly registered someone else in your name instead of their name, the system has registered you and created a patient profile for you, linking it with your own Electronic Patient Record (EPR). This means that the client profile is yours, so all communications will be to you and all the health data will be in your own Electronic Patient Record (EPR). Important: Each individual person needs to have their own client profile that links with their own Electronic Patient Record (EPR).   What you can do: The adult needs to be registered in the client portal in their name with their client profile. You can use the same email address as the one you used to register yourself, however, the system will require a password unique to them. Cancel the appointment that you booked in your own name. Re-book the appointment in the adult’s name using the email address and password that are linked to their profile.

Therapy slots are currently available at the following times:

Evening slots are currently not available. This is because outside of the therapy slot times, Dr Surridge is engaged in the following activities: Attending meetings with agencies/schools/health professionals etc. Delivering teaching and training to other professionals and the public. Running workshops. Lecturing at the University of Gibraltar. Attending continuous professional development (CPD). Carrying out admin (writing up talks, writing letters/reports, responding to emails). Managing childcare and other parenting responsibilities.

Dr Surridge apologises for this inconvenience but she is not currently in a position to offer regular appointment slots that finish later than 3pm.  If this situation changes in the future, later slots will be made available on the client portal.   Dr Surridge sees many children. In general, schools are happy for children to miss an hour in their week in order to attend an appointment - particularly if it relates to their mental health or behaviour management, because it often works towards improving their learning capacity and/or their behaviour in school.

Dr Surridge does not have a waiting list. However, please be aware that all of Dr Surridge’s services are in high demand. As a result, the routine clinic diary is frequently fully booked a couple of months in advance.

The online diary is in the client portal. It is live and you are able to see the available appointment slots in real time. If you keep an eye on the appointments diary, you will be able to see immediately if someone cancels. This means you can snatch up a cancelled slot as soon as one becomes available. You do not need to wait to be contacted. If you need an appointment soon, the advice is to book an appointment in the next available slot and then look out for cancellations. The feedback we have had regarding this new system, is that patients prefer this increased level of access and the control it offers.

Dr Surridge occasionally needs to run an emergency clinic on weekends for urgent cases. These are not currently visible on the online diary. Please be aware that those are weekend clinics and they carry the need for Dr Surridge to arrange childcare or cancel family activities to make her available. Therefore those clinics are necessarily charged at the higher rate starting from £200 per session.

After initial introductions, the aim of the first appointment is to set boundaries and make a therapy plan. First and foremost, the conversation typically addresses issues of confidentiality and information-sharing, safeguarding, note-taking etc. Sessions are usually an hour and within that time, the conversation is usually geared toward gathering the relevant information and deciding on the type of therapy approach that might be followed and the number of sessions that will likely be required. If Dr Surridge feels that she is not the right professional, or if there is a sense of not being a good fit, then she will try to signpost to someone who may be more appropriate.

Although every individual is different, Dr Surridge bases estimates on brackets of care required. The following are examples to offer you an approximate idea: These are average ranges based on research and clinical experience. Every person’s needs are unique, so the actual number of sessions may be shorter or longer.

Dr Surridge does not dictate how frequently individuals should attend because each person’s needs and experiences are different. Some individuals, prefer to attend weekly in order to gain momentum, whereas others find this frequency too intense and prefer to attend fortnightly appointments. For those individuals whose life is minimally impacted and their life is fairly stable without crises or emotional outbursts or overwhelm, then they may choose to meet monthly to maintain a level of functioning with more gradual improvement over slower time. This frequency may be more suitable for those who find themselves unable to take time off work for attending appointments to address their mental health.

The aims of the initial assessment session are usually to agree boundaries and to make a plan for the direction of therapy. Dr Surridge would aim to gather enough information to develop an initial formulation of the problem, form an idea of the number of sessions that might be necessary, and decide on the therapy approach that might be employed etc. With these aims in mind, the initial assessment session usually involves taking some time to explain about what happens to the information that the family shares with Dr Surridge, the boundaries of confidentiality and the role of safeguarding. It is important for parent(s) to be present when this information is being covered.   That conversation would usually be followed by some time to talk about the issues that have led the family to make an appointment. It tends to involve parents giving information about how they noticed the problem developing, some listing of the difficulties and how parents have been managing them, and some listing of strengths or other positive information to gather a balanced perspective. An opportunity is offered for parents to share questions and concerns, and to consider possible ways forward.    If Dr Surridge feels that she is not the right professional, or if there is a sense of not being a good fit, then she will try to signpost to someone who may be more appropriate. (for example a Behaviour Therapist / Educational Psychologist / Occupational Therapist, or a psychologist who may be more specialised in a different type of therapeutic approach etc).

When working with children and teens, parents tend to have a session on their own first so that they can explain the situation. An initial assessment session with parents alone allows them to talk about the situation without making the child too uncomfortable or feeling too bored. It also allows Dr Surridge the opportunity to ask questions that sometimes parents have difficulty answering in the presence of their child. After the initial assessment session with parents, children typically attend together with parents for a few sessions and then attend alone. Dr Surridge often arranges with parents a point in the future at which to reconvene for a joint session to offer an update or feedback, although this is not always necessary. Older teens typically attend the initial assessment session together with parents and then the teens attend alone for subsequent sessions.

Please be aware that Dr Surridge is a Clinical Psychologist, which means the service is psychological intervention and is not the same as counselling. The fees are therefore on a different scale. The initial assessment appointment and routine follow-up appointments are charged at the same rate, both currently starting at £150 per session. This covers the therapy hour, write-up of clinical notes and other minor administrative procedures or minor contact with other professionals or agencies (when necessary). Payment procedure When you book an appointment, you will receive an email containing a secure payment link. Payment is due at least 24 hours prior to your appointment.

Unfortunately, it isn’t possible for Dr Surridge to work directly with insurers, as this would take up all of her time instead of seeing patients. Larger clinics often have a dedicated insurance team for arranging authorisations and payments. In these cases, the admin time is absorbed by the team, and the cost of the work is covered within the clinic’s fees. Dr Surridge is not able to absorb these financial costs, but more importantly, the costs of time. Implication for you: Your appointment sessions will need to be on a pay-and-claim-back basis. The client portal automatically issues an invoice at the point of booking, which you can use for your claim. So far, we have found that patients with yearly allowances often prefer the pay-and-claim-back route, as it usually: Avoids the need for reports Prevents delays while insurers pre-authorise sets of sessions Occasionally, insurers still request a letter or report, even with pay-and-claim-back. If they ask you for a report, Dr Surridge can provide one for you (but not directly to the insurer). It would be written as a general letter and given to you, as it would be for any other purpose. Please see the relevant information section regarding letters and reports.

Please be aware that letters and reports (for whatever purpose) are provided as a paid service and therefore incur a fee. Standard letters The standard fee is the equivalent of an hour’s consultation session, as reports typically take 1–2 hours to complete (an investment of effort and expertise that would otherwise not be remunerated). Non-standard documents Longer or more complex reports carry a higher fee. Sometimes writing a report requires background work beforehand, such as: Reviewing or sifting through previous notes. Providing a list of detailed recommendations. Conducting research. Updating knowledge about a particular condition or therapy technique. Communicating with other professionals or services related to your care. In these cases, the cost would increase accordingly, as the background work takes longer even if the final letter ends up being brief. If this is likely to be the case, you will be notified and your consent sought before you are invoiced.

If you wish to request a letter or report: Submit your request to info@drsurridge.gi You will receive an invoice along with a payment link for your convenience. Once payment has been received, please allow 2 weeks for the document to be written up. You will then be granted access to your document.

Previously, invoices used to be sent after the documents were written up; but frequently, the requester would later decide not to proceed - resulting in unremunerated work and, more importantly, lost time that could have been spent more meaningfully with patients. Unfortunately, for this reason, the policy had to be changed.

We adhere to strict security practices in order to protect sensitive data. The procedure for accessing your document is as follows: You will be sent an email containing a secure direct link to your document that only you can open. The link will only work for the direct email recipient and will only be active for a short period of time. Your document is password-protected. If you do not yet know your password, please contact me to make arrangements for how it will be shared: In person at the clinic Via video call at an agreed time Please note: I am not able to share your password over the phone, as I need to confirm your identity by seeing your face. This ensures that your data remains confidential and that the password is handed over securely to you alone. After you open the document Once you open the document, please read through it for accuracy and let Dr Surridge know as soon as possible if the document needs to be amended.