Private GP practice · West London
Thread provides wraparound care during active cancer treatment, and continuing care through the survivorship years that follow. Alongside your oncologist — never in place of them.
Dr Laura Gastaldi MD, MRCGP · Lead of Cancer and Palliative Care, Bath Road Surgery, Hounslow · 15 years in medicine
Care that holds.
The gap
Patients in active cancer treatment in London are well served by oncologists, treatment centres, and the regimens themselves. What is less well served is the space between.
Thread exists to hold all of that.
Who this is for
Patients having chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or immunotherapy who need clinical contact every week, not every cycle. We see patients in treatment for breast, gynaecological, gastrointestinal, lung, and haematological cancers, treated primarily at HCA London, The London Clinic, Cromwell Hospital, Royal Marsden Private, and GenesisCare.
The discharge letter arrives and the appointments stop. Surveillance begins, late effects surface, and the fear of recurrence has to go somewhere. Continuing care through those years, with annual late-effects screening and bloodwork coordinated around your surveillance schedule.
Cancer treatment happens to a household, not only to a patient. The Wraparound tier includes one family briefing per treatment cycle — typically a partner or an adult child, in person or by video, with the patient present and consenting.
Scope
How it works
By form, email, or telephone. Tell us where you are — in treatment, recently discharged, or working out what you need. Answered within one working day.
Forty-five to sixty minutes, £325. We go through the diagnosis, the regimen, what is happening between cycles, and who is currently doing what. Nothing is committed to at this point.
What will be monitored, at what interval, by whom, and what triggers escalation. Sent to you, and — with your consent — to your oncologist and your NHS GP.
Either consultation by consultation, or on a retainer with a defined response time. Patients move between the two as treatment changes.
Retainers
Each tier is a contract, and the copy below is the specification. Response times are commitments, not aspirations.
For survivorship and stable treatment.
£350per month
£3,800 a year
For patients who have finished active treatment, or whose treatment is stable, and who want a named doctor holding the clinical picture between surveillance appointments.
For active treatment.
£1,100per month
£12,000 a year
For patients in active chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or immunotherapy who need clinical contact every week rather than every cycle, and whose household needs briefing too.
For complex coordination. From Year 2.
£2,500–3,500per month
Indicative. Not open to new patients until Year 2.
For households managing treatment across several consultants and sites. Held back until two Wraparound patients have retained for six months — the practice will not price a tier it has not yet proven it can deliver.
Consultations
Year 1 rates, positioned deliberately at the lower-middle of the West London range. Retainers are self-pay. Single consultations may be covered by insurance once recognition is in place.
| Service | Duration | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Standard consultationIn person. | 30 minutes | £225 |
| Extended consultationFirst consultations are usually extended. | 45–60 minutes | £325 |
| Telephone or video follow-upExisting patients only. | 10–15 minutes | £100 |
| Second-opinion coordinationIdentifying, arranging, and briefing a second opinion. | One-off | £350 |
| PhlebotomyPlus hospital laboratory fees at cost. | 15 minutes | £75 |
| Vaccination — immunocompromised panelVaccine included. | 10 minutes | £95 |
Clinical consultations are exempt from VAT under Schedule 9, Group 7, Item 1 of the Value Added Tax Act 1994. Laboratory and hospital charges are billed separately by the hospital.
Trusted Partners
The practice does not deliver these services — that would multiply scope and liability. It keeps a list of providers Dr Gastaldi has interviewed personally, and makes the introduction.
BACP-registered psychotherapists with an explicit cancer specialism.
Specialist providers offering professional fitting and styling.
Anti-emetics, breakthrough pain relief, and infection treatment between hospital visits.
Taste change, weight maintenance during chemotherapy, and eating well afterwards.
Building fitness reserve before surgery; cancer-safe exercise during treatment.
Post-surgical limb swelling and long-term management.
BRCA, Lynch, and familial risk assessment for patients and families.
Income protection claims, critical illness, and advance planning.
The clinician
Dr Laura Gastaldi MD, MRCGP qualified in medicine at Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan in 2011 and has been on the GMC register since 2017. She is Lead of Cancer and Palliative Care at Bath Road Surgery, Hounslow, where she has run a dedicated weekly cancer clinic for three years.
Thread is deliberately a one-clinician practice. The person who takes your first consultation is the person who answers on a Thursday afternoon, writes to your oncologist, and sits with your partner for the family briefing. There is no triage layer, and no rota.
Questions
No. Dr Gastaldi is a GP with a clinical specialism in cancer and palliative care. Your oncologist owns the treatment plan and delivers the treatment. Thread holds the clinical picture in between, and works alongside them.
No. Most patients keep their NHS GP for everything unrelated to cancer, and use Thread for the cancer-related layer. With your consent, Dr Gastaldi writes to your NHS GP so your record stays complete.
Single consultations may be covered once insurer recognition is in place. Retainers are self-pay only. Bring your policy details to the enquiry and we will tell you plainly what is and is not likely to be covered.
Thread is not an emergency or out-of-hours service. If you are acutely unwell, call 999 or go to A&E. If you are in treatment, call the 24-hour triage line given by your treatment centre — particularly for a temperature. Thread responds during working hours, within the time committed by your tier.
No. Consultations are available on their own at £225 for 30 minutes and £325 for an extended consultation. A retainer makes sense when you need contact every week or two rather than occasionally.
Tell us where you are — in treatment, recently discharged, or trying to work out what you need. Enquiries are answered within one working day, by Dr Gastaldi.