Doctors Fees - additional fees for toddler visit

cleanslate

Hi, I brought my toddler to my doctor on Friday and was referred to a&e and while the visit was covered by the GP visit card, she charged me 25eur for the referral letter and a further 25eur for a letter for creche advising dosage of medicine. Is this right?

A visit for a 2 year old cost me €50 for 2 letters when he's covered by the GPvisit card? It's a new doctor in the practice there so I will ring Monday to complain and probably change practice if it's not refunded.

I don't know if I can change now that he's registered for the gp card with this doctor?

Does anyone know
1. If this charge is right, I said I'd never been charged before and she said it's new "I don't make the rules"
2. If I can change my son and register him for the gp card with another practice.

It's a shame as I'm over 40 and have been with this practice since I was 4 but I would think any necessary letters are covered in the visit.

Thanks

siblers

I can't see how it's right, any child under 5 has a medical card and letters are covered. I've never heard of having to pay for a referral letter, regardless of age.

lawred2

cleanslate wrote: »

Hi, I brought my toddler to my doctor on Friday and was referred to a&e and while the visit was covered by the GP visit card, she charged me 25eur for the referral letter and a further 25eur for a letter for creche advising dosage of medicine. Is this right?

A visit for a 2 year old cost me €50 for 2 letters when he's covered by the GPvisit card? It's a new doctor in the practice there so I will ring Monday to complain and probably change practice if it's not refunded.

I don't know if I can change now that he's registered for the gp card with this doctor?

Does anyone know
1. If this charge is right, I said I'd never been charged before and she said it's new "I don't make the rules"
2. If I can change my son and register him for the gp card with another practice.

It's a shame as I'm over 40 and have been with this practice since I was 4 but I would think any necessary letters are covered in the visit.

Thanks

No none of that is right if you have the GP card.

sabhail

lawred2 wrote: »

No none of that is right if you have the GP card.

Agree. Tho why would u need a letter for the creche. Surely u as parent could do that...

uck51js9zml2yt

Letter for the crèche I can undertake but not a referral to the hospital. That's the whole point of going to your GP first.

thinkingahead

GP visit card – it’s not a medical card. This means that, while you get free access to a GP, it won’t cover additional expenses such as blood tests and prescriptions.

All children under 6 years of age living in Ireland can get a GP visit card.

The under 6s GP visit card covers:

free GP visits
assessments at age 2 and 5
GP home visits
out-of-hours urgent GP care
care for children with asthma

Medication costs and hospital charges are not covered.

While the Under 6 GP visit card covers most routine needs of your child, it doesn't cover a range of non-medical tasks.

While these can still be facilitated, if needed, they will incur a fee, even if you are otherwise covered by the Under 6 Free GP Care Scheme.

Here is a list of items not covered, as suggested by the H.S.E:

Travel Vaccinations
Paediatric Phlebotomy
Passport / Identity reports / Letters
Créche Reports
Utilities Reports / Letters
Insurance Medicals / Reports
School Attendance Notes / Certificates
Sports Medicals / Reports
Letters in Support of Applications for Services Under the Social Welfare Acts ( Housing, Clothing etc )

lawred2

Referral letter should be covered

Can't see why a dosage note was required for the creche. Dosage is a pharmacist's job.

lazygal

I've incurred some fees, its a GP visit card not a full medical card. I wouldn't expect a GP to issue letters for free.

shesty

I'd expect the hospital referral letter to be free.Logically thinking about it, if she has diagnosed something and part of the diagnosis is that it requires further investigation (or she didn't have the tools to carry out a full diagnosis and so a referral was needed), then yes, I would be surprised at a charge for the referral letter.
The creche one, meh.Sounds a bit overkill that it was needed at all, so I wouldn't get too tangled up about that one.
Just thinking we were in DDoc lately and were given a referral letter for A&E, at no charge.(our doctor participates in DDoc)
You can change but you will have to find a doctor taking new patients on.Depending on where you live this could prove tricky.