Private Rheumatology Consultant in Leamington Spa

If you’ve been putting up with joint pain, swelling, or stiffness that won’t go away, getting a straight answer quickly isn’t always easy. At Renew Skin & Health Clinic in Leamington Spa, our rheumatology service is led by consultant rheumatologist Dr Ganesh Kasavkar, giving patients from Leamington Spa, Birmingham, Coventry, Warwick, Rugby and Solihull a direct route to specialist assessment and a management plan, without sitting on an NHS waiting list first. Below, we’ve set out what our rheumatology service actually involves how the first appointment works, what conditions we see most often, and how to get booked in.

Rheumatology deals with conditions of the joints, muscles, bones and connective tissues. This category includes a good number of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, such as rheumatoid Arthritis, psoriatic Arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis. A rheumatologist is simply a doctor who has trained further, beyond general medicine, specifically in this area.

Part of what makes these conditions tricky to pin down is that they can look, at first, like more everyday causes of joint pain. Ordinary wear and tear can present in a way that’s hard to distinguish, early on, from an autoimmune condition where the immune system has started attacking the joint lining by mistake. Telling the two apart usually comes down to a mix of careful history taking, a hands on examination and, where needed, targeted testing which is the core of what a rheumatologist does.

You don’t need a diagnosis already in hand to get value from seeing a specialist. It’s worth arranging an assessment if you’re noticing:

• Joint pain that has stuck around for several weeks with no obvious cause
• Swelling in a joint, especially if more than one is affected
• Morning stiffness that takes a while to ease off
• Symptoms spreading across several joints, particularly in a matching pattern on both sides of the body
• Fatigue or general unwellness turning up alongside the joint symptoms
• Symptoms that keep coming back without any clear trigger
• A pattern that feels more like inflammatory Arthritis than a simple strain

None of this is a checklist for diagnosing yourself, and nothing here can tell you what’s actually causing your symptoms. What it does tell you is that joint symptoms hanging around this long are worth having looked at properly, rather than managed indefinitely without knowing why they’re happening.

Dr Ganesh Kasavkar is a consultant rheumatologist with MBBS, MRCP, and a CCT in Rheumatology and General Internal Medicine, registered with the General Medical Council under GMC number 7436153.

He’s been a fulltime consultant rheumatologist at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust since March 2021, bringing more than 10 years’ experience in rheumatology and over 15 years in general internal medicine to every consultation.

His particular areas of clinical interest include:

• Systemic sclerosis and connective tissue diseases
• Vasculitis
• Rheumatoid Arthritis
• Psoriatic Arthritis
• Ankylosing spondylitis
• Osteoporosis
• Gout and early Arthritis
  

He also carries out peripheral joint injections, carpal tunnel injections and sacroiliac joint injections where these are clinically appropriate for the individual patient.

Alongside direct patient care, Dr Kasavkar serves as Deputy Clinical Lead for the Rheumatology Department at UHCW NHS Trust and holds an Honorary Clinical Lecturer post at Warwick Medical School, teaching both undergraduate and postgraduate students. He also contributes to rheumatology research, clinical trials, and academic publications and presentations.

In clinic, he places real weight on explaining things clearly and talking patients through their options rather than simply prescribing a path forward including the practical tradeoffs of each choice, so patients can decide what fits their own circumstances.

Here’s roughly how a first appointment unfolds:

1. You arrive and register at our Leamington Spa clinic.
2. We talk through your medical history general health, relevant family history, and any past diagnoses or treatments.
3. You describe your symptoms: when they started, how they’ve changed, and their pattern.
4. Dr Kasavkar carries out a clinical examination of the relevant joints or affected areas, where this is appropriate.
5. He reviews any previous test results or reports you’ve brought along, such as blood tests or imaging.
6. You discuss the possible causes, based on what your history and examination have shown.
7. If it would help clarify things, he’ll recommend further investigations.
8. You go through the treatment and management options relevant to your situation.
9. Where appropriate, you leave with a written summary or plan covering next steps.
10. You agree on followup, if ongoing monitoring or review makes sense.

To get the most from your appointment, it is helpful to bring any relevant medical history and a list of current medications along with your NHS number, name and address of your GP as well as previous blood test results or scan reports if available.
The initial appointment runs for approximately 30 minutes. In most cases, you’ll leave with a management or treatment plan agreed at that same appointment, where this is clinically appropriate.

Follow up consultations are priced separately see the Fees section below for the full breakdown.

We’d rather be upfront about the limits of what we offer than leave you guessing. Some cases sit outside what a private clinic setting can appropriately manage and may need NHS or tertiary specialist referral instead. That includes:

• Paediatric rheumatology care for children and young people needs specific paediatric expertise
• Complex vasculitis requiring multidisciplinary, hospitalbased input
• Biologic infusions, where an infusionsuite hospital setting is required

If Dr Kasavkar identifies during your consultation that your case would be better handled elsewhere, he’ll say so directly and help arrange an appropriate referral. Having clinical experience with a condition doesn’t automatically mean every stage of its ongoing management is something this clinic offers, and we’d rather tell you that plainly than let you find out later.

We try to be transparent about cost from the start, even on the parts that can only be confirmed once we know more about your case.

Dr Kasavkar’s way of working leans heavily on clear conversation and shared decisions. Rather than handing you one fixed path, he sets out the realistic options for your condition including what each one actually involves day to day so you can choose what fits your own priorities. Where a condition touches more than one part of your health, he’ll work alongside other relevant specialists so your care stays joined up rather than fragmented.

Renew Skin & Health Clinic is based in Leamington Spa and sees patients seeking private rheumatology assessment from across the surrounding area, including Birmingham, Coventry, Warwick, Rugby and Solihull. Whether a private consultation is the right choice for you depends on your individual circumstances, and that’s something we’re happy to talk through when you first get in touch.

Dealing with persistent joint pain, swelling or morning stiffness? Get a rheumatology consultation booked in with our consultant led team at Renew Skin & Health Clinic in Leamington Spa.

• Call: +44 1926 422 454
• Email:info@renewskinandhealthclinic.co.uk
• Address: Renew Skin & Health Clinic
  18 Guy Street, Leamington Spa, CV32 4RT. United Kingdom.
• Whatsapp: +44 1926 422 454
• Opening Hours: Monday to Friday, 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM (Telephone lines open daily 9:00 AM – 10:00 PM, including weekends)