Consultant costs without Health Insurance

dubrov

I've heard a major downside to not having health insurance is access to consultants.

Out of interest, say I had a chronic back problem and needed to see a consultant 4 times a year.
Does anyone have any idea how much that would roughly cost if I were to go private without health insurance?

If I then required an operation, could I then go back into the public system if I had used private consultants?

coylemj

If you go to a consultant as a private patient, it will typically cost in the order of 100-120 per consultation, the first visit is usually a bit more expensive than subsequent visits.

If you see the consultant privately then you are outside the public system and I mean this literally as you will typically have to see the consultant in his/her private rooms which will not be in the public hospital. What this means is that any surgical treatment proposed by the consultant will typically be carried out in a private clinic or hospital, the consultant's secretary will organise the slot and advise you when to turn up for the procedure.

Slots for procedures in public hospitals on the other hand are controlled by the HSE staff who run the hospital, you will have to join the (usually very long) queue along with the rest of the population if you wanted treatment in a public hospital. Seeing the consultant privately will get you no favours when it comes to taking your place in line in the pubic system since other than prioritising people for good medical reasons, the consultant will have little or no influence on the schedule. It's possible that some public hospitals will not allow you on the list at all unless you met the consultant as a public patient in the hospital.

dubrov

Thanks for all that Coylemj.

As I understand it, most consultants have both public and private practices.

Could a consultant operating in a private manner book an operation for you on the public system?
I know you would still be in the public queue but may speed up the process a bit by not having to wait for a public consultant appointment.

Also, have you any idea of what the cost of a major operation (say heart bypass for example) privately is?

coylemj

dubrov wrote: »

As I understand it, most consultants have both public and private practices.

Yes, and as I pointed out above, the two activities are usually kept apart, including any clinical procedures.

dubrov wrote: »

Could a consultant operating in a private manner book an operation for you on the public system?

I know you would still be in the public queue but may speed up the process a bit by not having to wait for a public consultant appointment.

I really don't know but as far as I'm aware, the system is not designed to handle this type of situation. The consultant's private practice is supposed to be conducted at an arm's length from his public work.

dubrov wrote: »

Also, have you any idea of what the cost of a major operation (say heart bypass for example) privately is?

About the same as the price of a new kitchen.

dubrov

Ok sounds like if you go private then you need to go private all the away,

..and I like expensive kitchens

Suucee

I needed an ent consultation for my daughter. Would have been 6 months waiting just for the consultation so my gp advised could pay for consultation private qnd then go back on public list if opp needed.
Decided to go with that option. Paid 150 for consultation and had it just over a week later.
Daughter does need grommets. Would be 1500 which we dont have. So i told gp and they will just re refer her on public list. Consultant told us to have a think about it and ring after xmas if we need to cancel the opp in the private hospital. Which will have to do

dubrov

Thanks Suucee.

Good to hear a real example.
So looks like you can go private for the diagnosis and still return to public.

Hope the operation goes ok.

phormium

Re the cost of bypass, my father had one nearly 10 yrs ago, very normal recovery, minimal time in hospital, cost was around 10k

cute geoge

phormium wrote: »

Re the cost of bypass, my father had one nearly 10 yrs ago, very normal recovery, minimal time in hospital, cost was around 10k

In todays money that's likely to be 50000 k

Gael23

Paying to see a consultant privately is not that expensive but the difficulty arises if you need treatment or a hospital admission which can cost thousands so you still have to join the queue to avoid that.
I know someone that paid €15,000 a few months back to have a hip replacement done privately.