Approach & Philosophy Cloud Health, Healthcare in Blackheath

Health is your greatest and most irreplaceable asset. Nothing is more important.

This is why we devote time to your care. The objective of every consultation is to address your ideas, concerns and expectations. We give you the time and space to convey what’s troubling you, whether it’s a small niggle or worrying problem, and we take the time to explore all possibilities. 

Continuity of care is paramount for lifelong, optimised wellbeing. We pride ourselves on taking a holistic, long-term approach to health care.

Communication is the bridge that allows two people to connect. It is also essential to understanding your symptoms, history and experience.

So often the clues to otherwise obscure diagnoses are “hidden in plain sight” and it’s only by exploring the detail that the diagnosis can be made – the skill lies in knowing which details uncover the diagnosis and which details confuse them. 

Every step of the way we believe that excellent two-way communication is at the heart of excellent quality medical care.

Good quality medical care often starts on the technical side. Dr Kumar-Beurg works tirelessly to “get the right diagnosis” through his experience and approach to clinical problem-solving.

The next step in good quality medical care is the creation of an optimum environment. An unhurried, relaxed atmosphere is essential to address any ideas or concerns you might have, and we always dedicate time to explain our recommendations clearly, so that we can make informed decisions together. 

We recognise that no single individual is the “Mr Average” that guidelines and protocols are written for.

For example, you may have a preference for doing lots of tests or for doing only the essential investigations and pressing on with treatment as soon as possible. We always listen to you. Also, many patients want to take advantage of non-medical treatments – there’s a lot of choices besides prescription medicines – before they start taking tablets. We recognise that the individual’s best interests may not be the same as the best interest of a policy writer. So we take that “textbook” approach and, where necessary, adapt it and tailor it to the individual. 

We also apply clinical tenacity to everything. This means we take an open-minded approach to diagnosis to counteract the decision-making biases that can affect all of us and to bring a fresh look at the situation when a patient’s test results or response to treatment isn’t what was expected. 

A good outcome is not necessarily related to a good clinical experience, but rather a practitioner being completely present in a consultation, with zero judgement and constraints on time. 

So what helps to get the right diagnosis?

Dr Kumar-Beurg’s approach is one that he calls the “Differential Diagnosis Heuristic Hierarchy”. He’s coined this phrase to describe his own personal way of blending the well established medical thought processes into a reliable approach that he’s used for over 25 years. It’s a very simple approach that can be encapsulated in just 4 questions. 

When people suffer from symptoms that can’t be easily explained or their test results come back normal, they often get told, “You’re healthy.” Yet they still suffer from their symptoms and continue to feel terrible. In these settings, Dr Kumar-Beurg doesn’t close the matter or give up trying to find out what’s wrong. Instead, he uses a precision lifestyle medicine approach to look in more detail to find imbalances or suboptimal conditions that aren’t diseases but can cause pain and discomfort. For example, the patient often needs tests for nutritional profiles, gut (microbiome) health, chronic fatigue or chronic infection and hormonal imbalances.