Doctors Fees

daniellemc

Hi Guuys,
was wondering if any1 can help me out here. Recently decided to change doctors as my own GP was useless (didnt listen to any of the problems I was having just handed out repeat prescriptions every time I went in). Decided to go to a doctor I had been referred to by a friend. Made appointment monday went and explained what was happening to me, this took all of 3 mins. The doctor said I need to get bloods taken and would have to be fasting for 9 hours. He rebooked me for Thursday morning and charged €50 for Monday. I was speaking to him today ref confirmation of appointment and asked would I be charged for Thursday and he says yes another €50. Is this right considering I paid €50 Monday and didn't have anything done and also didnt know i would need to be fasting to have bloods taken.

Paulw

Sounds normal. The doctor's time and experience is what you are paying for. 3 mins or 30 mins or 1 hour, I'm sure his fee would be the same.

As for paying the same again, some doctors would give you a "reduced rate" but some don't.

Pixied

It is usual for a GP to charge that way..right or wrong..

Ask if there is a nurse in the clinic. Often it is cheaper to see a nurse if you are just having bloods taken, alot of doctors offer this facility but don't advertise it.

Good luck!

daniellemc

Thanks for the info. Was down therethis morningandhesaid everytime I walk in the door its €50. Think thats a bit of a farce but what can ya do? I am in the process of registering with another doctor who will only charge €25 for repeat visits. I am in the unfornunate category of not being able to afford doctors fees yet not entitled to a medical card-good ole Ireland hey!

jpb1974

My young lad gets tonsilitis 2-3 times a year.

Having had it so many times it's totally obvious to us it's tonsilitis but each time it's down to the doctor, doctor has a 10 second look, writes a prescribtion for the same anti-biotic every time and we pay €50.

It gets frustrating having to pay €50 everytime for a prescription to be written. Something like this shouldn't require a €50 fee every single time.

whiterebel

Friends of ours were in France recently. Their young lad had dislocated his thumb the night before they flew out. So he had Cork regional at €100+++ and waiting time of 4 hours. He also had to have it checked again, which happened to be in France. €35 for the hospital X-Ray, all in all they were in the hospital 20 minutes. Appointment with a GP then - €22. Unbelievable thievery in this country.

Nonoperational

jpb1974 wrote: »

My young lad gets tonsilitis 2-3 times a year.

Having had it so many times it's totally obvious to us it's tonsilitis but each time it's down to the doctor, doctor has a 10 second look, writes a prescribtion for the same anti-biotic every time and we pay €50.

It gets frustrating having to pay €50 everytime for a prescription to be written. Something like this shouldn't require a €50 fee every single time.

It's steep but people self prescribing antibiotics is a complete non runner.

jpb1974

It's steep but people self prescribing antibiotics is a complete non runner.

To be honest I wasn't suggesting self prescribing at all.

The point I was really trying to make was that it should not cost €50 for what boils down to a pretty standard 30 second consultation for a young child. If the fee was something more realistic like €20 I'd have no problem.

whiterebel

jpb1974 wrote: »

To be honest I wasn't suggesting self prescribing at all.

The point I was really trying to make was that it should not cost €50 for what boils down to a pretty standard 30 second consultation for a young child. If the fee was something more realistic like €20 I'd have no problem.

My local GP now does a scrip refill for €10, which is a good idea.

Paulw

Mine charges €50 for a consult, but just €20 if it's a 2nd visit for the same issue or a follow up.

blossom180

daniellemc wrote: »

Thanks for the info. Was down therethis morningandhesaid everytime I walk in the door its €50. Think thats a bit of a farce but what can ya do? I am in the process of registering with another doctor who will only charge €25 for repeat visits. I am in the unfornunate category of not being able to afford doctors fees yet not entitled to a medical card-good ole Ireland hey!

have you checked to see if you are entitled to doctor only card.this is different from full medical card.doctors visits free and you pay for prescriptions.

davo10

JPB,

Regarding prescription, if it is a repeat for an established chronic condition which requires regular medication eg asthma inhalers etc, the Dr. can just right a repeat prescription and you can pick it up at a reduced fee. On the other hand an infection must be examined before a prescription can be written, it may well be tonsilitis but it can also be infectious mononucleosis, mumps, throat infection, thrush etc and these may require different treatments/medications, that is what you are paying the Dr. for, not the physical action of writing a script.

Why should it not be the same fee every time?, are you not seeing the Dr, getting a diagnosis and recieving the necessary medication?, have you considered bringing your son to an ENT specialist with a view to having tonsils removed?

Selandia

In my experience as a doctors secretary patients who tell you that they were only with the doctor for "30 seconds" or even "barely five minutes", have actually been there for ten or fifteen minutes. Often too they swear it was "just for a sore throat" but in fact they've forgotten that they also asked about the fungal infection in their big toe!

jpb1974

Just to re-iterate:

I've been to the doctor with my son who gets tonsillitis (as diagnosed by the doctor) 2-3 times a year (only as recently as this week).

Each consultation has taken no more than 30 seconds and, to be honest and fair, with another 2 minutes taken to type stuff into the computer and write the prescription.

Based on the doctor's diagnosis we've been prescribed the same anti-biotic (Augmentin, apologies if spelt incorrectly) every single time.

The doctor has never suggested that we seek an opinion on the removal of tonsils.

Each time we've had to pay €50 in doctor's fees.

I take onboard what davo10 has said that an examination has to be carried out.. I've no problem with this, this is the very least I would expect from the doctor.

Now... my point is that, in my opinion, €50 for 30 seconds of professional consultation + 2 mins of administration for a young child with a fairly standard ailment is too expensive. This equates to €1200 an hour (but yes, that is an exaggeration because the next patient could be inside for 20 minutes receiving a more detailed examination.). Then, to rub salt in the wounds, the chap you went to school with, who went into semi-retirement after the inter cert who only works as a cider taster for 5 days of the week, goes in and gets his excessive drinking related problems seen to for free (I know, I know... I'm pushing my moan too far now).

I just feel that minor ailments that require less time and attention should demand a lower fee. How you would implement this is possibly complicated... charging the same fee for everything is simple and easy to administrate.
I'm not really too fussed about Selandia's point because it's totally irrelevant to my situation.

I'll leave it at that... differing opinions aren't really going to change mine and me moaning about it isn't really going to change anything either. I suppose as long as the young lad is up and healthy again that's the main thing.

Adiós.

lainey316

Paulw wrote: »

Mine charges €50 for a consult, but just €20 if it's a 2nd visit for the same issue or a follow up.

Mine has the same policy, though I think the prices might be slightly higher.

Nonoperational

jpb1974 wrote: »

Just to re-iterate:

I've been to the doctor with my son who gets tonsillitis (as diagnosed by the doctor) 2-3 times a year (only as recently as this week).

Each consultation has taken no more than 30 seconds and, to be honest and fair, with another 2 minutes taken to type stuff into the computer and write the prescription.

Based on the doctor's diagnosis we've been prescribed the same anti-biotic (Augmentin, apologies if spelt incorrectly) every single time.

The doctor has never suggested that we seek an opinion on the removal of tonsils.

Each time we've had to pay €50 in doctor's fees.G

I take onboard what davo10 has said that an examination has to be carried out.. I've no problem with this, this is the very least I would expect from the doctor.

Now... my point is that, in my opinion, €50 for 30 seconds of professional consultation + 2 mins of administration for a young child with a fairly standard ailment is too expensive. This equates to €1200 an hour (but yes, that is an exaggeration because the next patient could be inside for 20 minutes receiving a more detailed examination.). Then, to rub salt in the wounds, the chap you went to school with, who went into semi-retirement after the inter cert who only works as a cider taster for 5 days of the week, goes in and gets his excessive drinking related problems seen to for free (I know, I know... I'm pushing my moan too far now).

I just feel that minor ailments that require less time and attention should demand a lower fee. How you would implement this is possibly complicated... charging the same fee for everything is simple and easy to administrate.
I'm not really too fussed about Selandia's point because it's totally irrelevant to my situation.

I'll leave it at that... differing opinions aren't really going to change mine and me moaning about it isn't really going to change anything either. I suppose as long as the young lad is up and healthy again that's the main thing.

Adiós.

I see where your coming from in fairness. If I was you I'd explain to the doc your issue and ask him to put a repeat on the script to be used if needed. If it's a recurring condition they should have no issue doing this. I'm a pharmacist / med student and I've seen this many times. They would probably only put 1 repeat on it but it'd save you 1 €50 anyway.

davo10

gpf you are a student, check the validity of your last statement regarding the prescribing of repeat courses of antibiotics/analgesics/dangerous medicaments on the same script, you are wrong. (example 1, an addict asks a Dr. to give him repeat courses of painkillers, example 2. repeat doses of antiobiotics are used by the patient to treat conditions for which they were not prescribed nor are suitiable), some medicines such as salbutamol which are used to treat chronic conditions can be repeated on the same script. As a med/pharmacy student you should know by now that you have to be careful of the advice you post on forums like this in relation to medical matters, to a poster you know no nothing about.

Nonoperational

I am not a pharmacy student davo10 I am a qualified pharmacist. I never said it was an ideal course of action but GPs do put a repeat on antibiotics if a patient has the same infection reoccuring. I was not giving advice it is 100% up to the GP if they are prepared to do that but it happens regularly. I'm not saying I agree with it but it is an option to discuss with a GP, they may not be happy to do it at all.

Just today I had a patient in who got 3 antibiotics for her 3 children just in case they got sick on holidays so GPs do trust patients judgement to a certain extent. Again how correct this is is another matter.

To be honest I can see your point and in an ideal world you'd be right (on the antibiotics anyway). Anagesics are commonly repeated for 6 months for people with chronic pain, as for "dangerous" medications well just about any medicine is dangerous if not used correctly.

I know you mean well but I'm not wrong, legally any medication (well 99% of medications) can be repeated for up to 6 months if the doctor deems it correct to do so.
But this is dragging the thread horrendously off track, I was just suggesting a way she might be able to save a few quid!

looksee

I think that children should be subsidised for doctor visits, especially for parents who are only just in the private grouping. However that is more likely a post for Politics.

I had a hospital consulation earlier this year and was told that a test (read by the consultant) showed that I did not have the problem I was enquiring about. I had two or three visits as I felt that I did have this problem, but was told, no, not a problem. Eventually I was referred to another consultant (again a first visit at €150) who misprescribed drugs which put me in hospital. Subsequently I went to a third consultant and eventually (its a long story) it turned out that the first one had twice misread my test and in fact I did have the problem. The test information was very simple, I could have read it myself if I had seen it, but the consultant got it wrong twice.

Quite apart from the hassle, all this cost me around €500 more than it should have, because the first consultant could not read a simple test. These people are earning huge amounts of money and using hospital facilities, and some of them do not appear to have basic knowledge - or possibly interest.

lynski

my old gp had a sliding scale of fees - upwards. 50 for first 15 minutes, 65 for 30 and 75 for 40, i think. my current gp charges 50 for visit, 65 for additional family member and 75 for 2 additional family members. gp1 on grafton st, gp 2 rural kildare. they cant possibly have comparable costs.
Have to say gp1 was fantastic when i had a chronic undiagnosed complaint, i was back and forth all the time and she reduced my fee to a student fee for a few months.
current gp has a reduced fee for repeat visits tho and we are very lucky to have a fantastic pharmacist who is really helpful and has saved us a few doctor trips over the last few years with good advice.
It is so coincidental dont ya think that gps all over the country are charging 50 per visit? how is this not price fixing or at least gouging?

davo10

gpf, In your opinion is tonsilitis a chronic ongoing condition requiring scripted repeat doses of antibiotics?, also inform the readers the time limit at which pharmacists would become curious about patients returning for a repeat prescription on the same script, 3 months, 6 months, 12 months, 24 months?, would you as a pharmacist for instance dispence 375mg x q.i.d x 1/52 three times within a three week period for tonsilitis on the same script?, do you think this is what the GDP had in mind when giving a repeat prescription?, when would you be concerned that the medication is not working and that a chaange of medication is appropriate?, would you be concerned that perhaps if the condition is not improving, it may not be tonsilitis?

Pixied

davo10 wrote: »

gpf, In your opinion is tonsilitis a chronic ongoing condition requiring scripted repeat doses of antibiotics?, also inform the readers the time limit at which pharmacists would become curious about patients returning for a repeat prescription on the same script, 3 months, 6 months, 12 months, 24 months?, would you as a pharmacist for instance dispence 375mg x q.i.d x 1/52 three times within a three week period for tonsilitis on the same script?, do you think this is what the GDP had in mind when giving a repeat prescription?, when would you be concerned that the medication is not working and that a chaange of medication is appropriate?, would you be concerned that perhaps if the condition is not improving, it may not be tonsilitis?

This is waaay off the original post..

davo10

I agree Pixied, but jpb was given wrong advice by a qualified health professional who should know better, unless this was pointed out readers may have taken this advice and expected their GP to give repeated doses on the same script for all ailments, this is simply not acceptable practice and dangerous, just wanted to clarify that.

Merch

blossom180 wrote: »

have you checked to see if you are entitled to doctor only card.this is different from full medical card.doctors visits free and you pay for prescriptions.

Where would you find information about this card?
Im a student now, I dont know if Im eligible for a medical card but maybe this, I'll look it up myself (maybe at the HSE website?) also but in case you know already?

Anyway even when i was in fulltime work, I found it too expensive to go to the doctor and only went for the absolutely most essential stuff, I think there should be a differeant rate for kids maybe 20-25 euro but for the doctors/other patients sake it should be per child maybe to a max limit of a certain euro value?

GerardKeating

Merch wrote: »

Where would you find information about this card?
Im a student now, I dont know if Im eligible for a medical card but maybe this, I'll look it up myself (maybe at the HSE website?) also but in case you know already?

Anyway even when i was in fulltime work, I found it too expensive to go to the doctor and only went for the absolutely most essential stuff, I think there should be a differeant rate for kids maybe 20-25 euro but for the doctors/other patients sake it should be per child maybe to a max limit of a certain euro value?

The HSE have a site for you to apply online.

Nonoperational

davo10 wrote: »

I agree Pixied, but jpb was given wrong advice by a qualified health professional who should know better, unless this was pointed out readers may have taken this advice and expected their GP to give repeated doses on the same script for all ailments, this is simply not acceptable practice and dangerous, just wanted to clarify that.

Listen you obviously have no idea what your talking about so please stop talking utter rubbish. GPs issue repeat prescriptions every single day. We are not talking about a magic bullet for "all ailments". We are talking about a very clear recurring condition. I am a qualified pharmacist and training to be a doctor. As far as I can see you are not a healthcare professional. Yes you are right that antibiotics generally should not be given on a repeat Rx but they are repeated sometimes if it is appropriate.

I don't know what your background is but you obviously have no idea about prescriptions and doctors prescribing practices. You have no business talking about something you don't understand.

Again I am expressing an opinion on an internet forum as to how the OP could save a few euro. It will have no bearing on the doctors prescribing decisions.