# health,private consultation, public treatment



## frankie (9 Jan 2006)

does anyone know if you can pay for a private health consultation to avoid the waiting list for this aspect, and then go on to receive public treatment if necessary. someone told me this cant be done, that if you pay for prvate consultation then you must continue in private. anyone got any idea?


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## ClubMan (9 Jan 2006)

I always thought that if you started off private then you couldn't switch to public later on. My sister in law works for the NTPF and they get people trying this all the time to whom they have to say no.


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## frankie (10 Jan 2006)

thanks for that clubman. im checking for a foreign colleague who's child is waiting for a consultation but is in a lot of pain. the language barrier is a big problem. just trying to think of ways to speed things up.


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## ClubMan (10 Jan 2006)

If the child is in pain then can they not just attend _A&E _as an emergency case? Anything useful on ?


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## Vanilla (10 Jan 2006)

I am horrified at the thought of a child in pain waiting to be seen on the public lists. Can you say anything more about this child's situation? I do believe that those who shout loudest get served first, and quite possibly served better, in our public health system. Your colleague should not be quiet about this- shout loud and clear, contact the local paper, local councillors, local health board- ANYBODY who can help. It is unforgiveable that in this day and age a child should be left in pain if something can be done to alleviate the situation.


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## scuby (10 Jan 2006)

Was there a new system set up a few years ago, if a patient was waiting a long time for treatment, that the government would pay for the treatment privately, or was that just for operations as opposed to a consultation with a specialist...


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## ClubMan (10 Jan 2006)

That's the _NTPF _that I was referring to above. There's also the [broken link removed]where a particular procedure is not available in Ireland but is available elsewhere in the _EU _(and/or _EEA _and/or elsewhere abroad).


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## Mel (11 Jan 2006)

I queried this a few years ago when my son needed to see a urologist in Cork - I didn't have VHI at the time.

I could get an appointment with a consultant within *2 weeks* if I saw him *privately*, but it was not permitted to rejoin a public waiting list for treatment following a private consultation. 

The waiting list for a *public* consultation with the same urologist was *3 years!*

With regard to being seen privately if the waiting list is too long - I believe (I may be wrong) that this only applies to the treatment recommended following consultation with the specialist. To the best of my knowledge, treatment follows reasonably quickly in most cases once the patient has actually seen the consultant - it is waiting for the consultation where most of the delay occurs.


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## ClubMan (11 Jan 2006)

Mel said:
			
		

> The waiting list for a *public* consultation with the same urologist was *3 years!*


 Maybe it wasn't up and running then but the _NTPF _was set up specifically to deal with cases such as this. If the patient is on the public waiting list for a certain period then the _NTPF _will try to arrange private care in Ireland or abroad for them. I don't know how well it works though. Maybe it would be worth contacting them in this specific case?


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## Mel (11 Jan 2006)

Thanks Clubman; maybe I'm incorrect but I did understand that the NTPB referred only to cases where it had been confirmed that a certain treatment (operation or whatever) was required, but the waiting list for that treatment was long. I don't think there is anything yet to address the issue of waiting for the actual consultation - I may be wrong. 

In the event, I made a lot of noise, and my gp examined my son himself (we had previously seen one of the junior gp's in the practice who wanted the referral to a specialist) and confirmed that all was ok, so we didn't proceed. Needless to say we're well covered these days!


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## ClubMan (11 Jan 2006)

You could be correct. My knowledge of what they do is limited.


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## RainyDay (11 Jan 2006)

Mel said:
			
		

> I queried this a few years ago when my son needed to see a urologist in Cork - I didn't have VHI at the time.
> 
> I could get an appointment with a consultant within *2 weeks* if I saw him *privately*, but it was not permitted to rejoin a public waiting list for treatment following a private consultation.


This seems absolutely ludicrous to me. Has anyone got any formal documentation confirming this policy? What happens if you simply run out of money half-way through a treatment? Is the patient going to be turned away from the public health service simply because they had some private treatment earlier on?

I can't see how they could possibly enforce this.


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## frankie (16 Jan 2006)

hi all, and thanks for all the suggestions. colleague may return to own country if necessary.


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