Your questions, answered.

Everything begins with your one-hour Introductory consultation, by phone. Request one through our enquiry form, and we will reply to arrange a time. It costs £250, which is credited towards your service if you go ahead.

Yes, at no charge. Send us your question through our question form. You do not need to share any health details. We aim to reply within 3 working days.

You tell us, in your own words, why you are getting in touch, a little about your symptoms now, what you would like help with and what you hope to gain. Together we agree which service suits you best, and we use what you tell us to prepare the personal questions for your next conversation.

No. Many people come to us with no diagnosis at all, or with several that do not seem to explain everything.

Not when you first get in touch. Many people are still gathering theirs. In the UK you have the right to ask for a copy of your health records, usually free of charge, and we can guide you through it.

We do need them before your Symptom and Medical History consultation. We read every record first, and together with your Introductory consultation, they shape the personal questions for that conversation.

Everything begins with your Introductory consultation. Get in touch, and we will arrange yours and talk you through what comes next.

Every kind of long or unexplained illness is welcome, including symptoms that began after a viral infection, and symptoms that have never had a name. On your Introductory consultation we tell you honestly which of our services would serve you best, and if something else would help you more, we say so.

Yes. Many people first get in touch for a partner, a parent, or an adult son or daughter. You are welcome to make the enquiry, join every conversation and speak for them. The reports are theirs, and they decide who sees them.

Before we begin, we ask them to sign a short form confirming they are happy for you to act with them, which they can withdraw at any time. If you hold a Lasting Power of Attorney for their health and welfare, or are their court-appointed deputy, please tell us, and we will talk through how best to work together.

Not ordinarily for a Medical Investigation, but in some cases we can. If you are a parent or guardian, please get in touch at [email protected], and we can talk it through with you.

Yes. Many people find it helps to have a parent, partner, relative, friend or carer with them. They can also speak on your behalf, if you would like them to.

Please get in touch first. Consultations take place by phone or video, and we will talk through whether we can help, including how your records can reach us.

A consultancy in a supporting role: we review, research and write. Examining, diagnosing, prescribing and treating stay with your registered clinicians.

• One person holds your case. For a Medical History Review or Medical Investigation, a case lead stays with you from your first call to your final report.
• Every reference is checked three times. Three researchers check every reference against its source before your reports reach you.
• Paid only by you. We have no affiliations, and take no commission, referral fee or payment from any laboratory, clinic or test provider. We sell no supplements, tests or treatments.

A Medical History Review brings your whole history together in one clear report. A Medical Investigation includes a Complex Medical History Review, then researches the most likely cause of your symptoms in depth, with reports for you, your clinicians and your GP.

Our reports are designed to help you reach one with your clinicians. A Medical History Review gives you the clearest possible picture of your history. A Medical Investigation names the most likely cause of your symptoms, with our reasoning, the evidence and the tests that could confirm it. The diagnosis itself is made by your clinicians.

No. We are not your doctor, and we do not diagnose or treat. Synomics is a consultancy: we review, research and write, in a supporting and advocacy role.

For a Medical History Review or Medical Investigation, you are given a case lead, who stays with you from your first call to your final report and is your single point of contact. Before your reports reach you, three researchers check every reference against its source.

For Ongoing Care, we bring together a team around you, chosen for what you need at the time, and it changes as your needs do.

Yes. Some of our past clients have kindly given their full written consent for their report to be shared, to help others decide whether our services are right for them. Before we send one, every personal detail is removed, including their name, client reference number and the names of their doctors, specialists, clinicians and hospitals. Each copy is watermarked for your personal viewing only. Ask us, and we will send you one.

Our timings come from the minimum hours we give to every stage of every case. If you need your reports sooner, please ask: in some cases we can bring more of our team onto your case, so that the same hours are given in a shorter time.

You tell us your whole story, from childhood to today, in your own words and at your own pace. We ask personal questions, prepared from your records and your Introductory consultation. You can rest whenever you need to, and anything you would rather answer afterwards, you can, in your own time.

Your report timings begin once this consultation is complete and we have all your records, so anything you would rather answer afterwards may move them back a little.

Wherever suits you: by phone, by video, at our London office, or in your own home. Home visits outside London carry a travel charge, which we agree with you in writing beforehand.

We know a long conversation can take a lot out of you, and that the days afterwards can be the hardest part. You can rest whenever you need to, someone close to you can speak for you, and you can answer some questions afterwards, in your own time. If anything would make it easier, such as shorter sessions, tell us, and we will arrange it.

Once your service is agreed and paid for, we give you a secure way to send us your records. Before we begin, they are redacted and pseudonymised: your name, address, date of birth and other identifying details are removed, and a client reference number is used in their place. The files you sent are then deleted, and the redacted copies are deleted once your report has been sent to you. Read our privacy notice.

On an encrypted drive, not in the cloud. The files carry only your reference number, and the list that links reference numbers to names is kept separately.

No. We never sell your information, and we never share it with anyone else, including Synomics Labs, our research side, unless you ask us to share it with them. Your reports go to you alone, and who you share them with is entirely your choice.

The only exceptions are the secure services that store your files for us, which cannot use them, anything the law requires, and, only if you give us your written consent, your completed report with every personal detail removed, shared as an example for others considering our services.

Please do not send health details through the enquiry form. If we go on to work together, we will give you a secure way to send them.

Once we have your complete records and have held your Symptom and Medical History consultation, a Medical History Review report reaches you within two weeks for a standard review, three weeks for a Complex review and one month for an Extensive review. For a Medical Investigation, your Medical History Review report comes first, within three weeks, and everything reaches you within eight weeks.

You do. Every report is written for you, and it is entirely your choice whether to share any of them, and with whom.

In whatever way suits you. Your Clinician Overview, Clinician Investigation Report and GP Summary Letter are written for them. Each comes with a cover page for you to fill in with your name, date of birth and NHS number, so that it can be filed with your records.

Yes, through you. If your GP or a specialist has a question about anything in your reports, send it to us, or forward their message. We reply in writing, to you, so that you can pass it on. This is included for twelve months after your final report.

Your GP and specialists remain in charge of your care. Your reports give you, and them if you choose, one clear account of your history, so that every appointment can start with the whole picture.

Decisions about prescription medications rest with your prescribing clinicians. Your Medical History Review Report notes anything about your medications worth discussing with them, so that you can raise it.

We suggest the tests that could confirm or rule out each possibility, explain why each one matters, and guide you through how to arrange them. For each test, we note whether it is usually available through the NHS or may need to be arranged privately. The tests themselves are arranged by you, your carers or your clinicians.

Your reports are yours to keep, to return to and to share. If new records or results arrive later, a Report Update can add them. If you would like ongoing support, Ongoing Care can begin from your report.

The Introductory consultation is £250, credited towards your service if you go ahead. A Medical History Review starts from £8,350, a Medical Investigation from £26,750, and Ongoing Care from £950 a month for the first three months, then from £500 a month. Every fee is agreed with you before we begin, and is fixed once agreed. See our Fees page for the full detail.

A Medical History Review is paid in full when your fee is agreed, before your Symptom and Medical History consultation.

A Medical Investigation is paid in three stages: £250 when you book your Introductory consultation; your Medical History Review fee, less the £250, when you go ahead; and the Investigation stage fee when your Medical History Review report is delivered.

Ongoing Care is paid monthly in advance, with the first month invoiced before your care begins.

Payment is by bank transfer, using the invoice number as the payment reference.

Medical Investigations are paid in stages: you pay for each stage before it begins, and your written agreement sets out each stage and its fee. If you would like to spread the cost differently, please get in touch at [email protected] and we will talk it through.

Laboratory and testing costs, which are paid separately; Report Updates, from £1,300, if new records or results arrive after your case closes; and Ongoing Care, our separate month-by-month support.

No. We are paid only by you. We have no affiliations with, and take no commission, referral fee or payment of any kind from, any laboratory, clinic or test provider, and we sell no supplements, tests or treatments.

Yes. If your earlier review gives us what we need, you pay only for the Investigation stage. If more is needed first, we bring your review up to a Complex review, and the fee for your earlier review is credited towards it. We will tell you which applies after your Introductory consultation.

We can give you an itemised invoice to send to your insurer, though we cannot say whether they will accept it. We do not bill insurers or employers directly.

They receive the invoices and payment dates. What your reports say stays with you, unless you agree in writing to share it.

If every possibility is explored and no reason is found, the Investigation stage fee, £12,800, is returned to you in full. The guarantee covers your fee, never an outcome. If the most likely cause is not confirmed, we look at the next on our list, at no extra charge. If a suggested test is not available on the NHS and you choose not to arrange it privately, we treat that possibility as explored and move on.

If no cause has been confirmed 18 months after your Investigation Report, you choose: we keep going, or you take the refund. If we reach the point where we do not believe we can find a cause, we tell you in writing and return the fee within 30 days. You do not need to ask. Read the full terms.

Yes. You can pause a Medical History Review or Medical Investigation at any point, for as long as you need, at no cost. Your case is kept safely, and we pick up where we left off when you are ready. Nothing more is due until the next stage begins. If you are too unwell to take part in Ongoing Care for a while, tell us and we will agree a pause with you. Read our refunds and cancellations policy.

Yes. The law gives you 14 days to change your mind. If you asked us to begin within that time, we refund what you have paid, less a fair amount for the work done. After the 14 days, you pay for the stage in progress, and anything paid for a stage not yet begun is refunded in full. Read our refunds and cancellations policy.

Yes. We set aside a limited number of pro bono places on our Medical Investigations for people facing financial hardship. If you receive a means-tested benefit, such as Universal Credit or Pension Credit, that is all we need to know. If you do not, but cost would still stand in the way, you are just as welcome to ask. Read about pro bono places.

Get in touch and mention a pro bono place; someone can apply for you. If you receive a means-tested benefit, we may ask to see a recent award letter: you can cover everything except your name, the name of the benefit and the date. If you do not have one, a few lines about your situation are enough. We aim to reply within 3 working days, and we tell you honestly how long the wait is.

Yes, and thank you. Please get in touch, and we will explain how.

A separate, optional service: personalised, integrative support month by month, with a written plan, tracking and regular reviews, from £950 a month for the first three months, then from £500 a month. It can begin from your Medical History Review or Medical Investigation, or from a Starter Assessment. Read about Ongoing Care.

You need a Medical History Review or Medical Investigation with us, or a Starter Assessment. A Medical Investigation already includes a Complex Medical History Review.

As often as you need. Each rhythm, monthly, fortnightly or weekly, comes with a set number of hours a month, and we agree it with you at the start. It can change as your needs do. In the first three months we also hold a monthly review while we set your baseline.

No. We do not advise on prescription medications and we do not prescribe. Anything to do with medication is for your own clinicians.

Laboratory and testing costs are paid by you, separately from our fees.

Yes, three months. That covers the first stage, while we set your baseline, and gives your tracking time to show how things are changing.