Have doctor fees increased?

GPs ARE con artists

The experience outlined by Hilary is one i have heard about a lot.
OK, so maybe there was no liquid nitrogen in the tank.
30 seconds work is not worth €45.
I have had warts removed and thats all there is to it. 30 seconds.
And dont pretend to tell me that the patient used a whole tank of liquid nitrogen for a wart.
Thats the answer of a typical doctor.
How about telling us how much liquid nitrogen costs.
How much do you use on a wart? maybe 5 mililitres at most i bet.

Aso how come Dr that you didnt comment on the hourly rate.
I think that makes the most sense of all.
You wouldnt be trying to get rid of patients in 30 seconds then would you?
 
Re: GPs ARE con artists

Hi Ellie

I think that's something of a generalisation that is probably unjustified.

I've no doubt there are some GPs who are mainly in it for the money and there also a lot of GPs for whom it is a vocation (but most of whom probably don't object to the fact that it also pays very well).

The case mentioned of the patient who was asked to call back the following day for wart removal and was charged another €45 sounds like the GP falls into the first category. Our own GP recently increased his charge to €45 (amazing how they all seem to move in tandem) but generally charges considerably less for repeat visits. This strikes me as a fair approach.

I remember a thread some time back that referred to a practice in another country of having variable charges depending on the length of the consultation - short, medium or long. While this seems sensible, it will only take off if it becomes general practice. Maybe we could lobby for such a change?

Regards
Homer
 
Re: GPs ARE con artists

I'm not a medic but I've a lot of sympathy for them. When a medic makes a mistake people generally die. When was the last time you made a mistake in your job? It takes a very long time for them to qualifly and then...people sue them!

Next time you visit your GP, ask them how much their insurance is. Divide that by 365 days and then add in all the regular bills for running an office.

You should shop around for your GP. I'm an asmathic and my GP writes my Ventolin prescriptions for free (and he drives a HUGE Mercedes). He charges me €40 for everything else.

Sluice
 
Re: GPs ARE con artists

I disagree with many that have posted on this tread, and no I am not a doctor I am an accountant.
It is a highly skilled job that takes year to qualify in, and then there is the work in the hospitals before decent money can be made. The hours are terriable and the stress is worse. A friend of mine who is a doctor recently was off work for months due largely to the stress of work.
As far as I am aware , at least down in the sticks of Tipp, return visits are free eg if you go to the doctor on Monday and he tells you to come back on Thursday to check you again you don't pay the second day.I will admit that with one or two if offered will take the money the second time but they are not the norm, Also if you are a regular patient of a doctor normally you wouldn't have to pay for a repeat prescription unless you needed to see the doctor for some reason.
 
Re: GPs ARE con artists

I too think that many of the complaints voiced here are unfair and unwarranted.

For doctors and other professionals, their daily insurance cost is not the annual cost divided by 365, but the annual cost divided by the number of workdays per year.

Professional standards compliance requirements and practice management needs usually mean that time spent with patients (ie earning time) is only a fraction of a GP's total working time. I would guess that maybe only 50% (possibly less) of a doctor's working day is chargeable time.

Unless GP's and doctors in general are paid well, the quality of patient care will suffer as our best n' brightest opt for careers as techies, barristers etc.
 
>Unless GP's and doctors in general are paid well, the >quality of patient care will suffer as our best n' >brightest opt for careers as techies, barristers etc.
Disagree with
quality == pay

Ireland is becoming more and more like USA .
The middle/lower income will not be able to afford it

Here in Japan , I pay next to nothing for visiting
a local doctor .
they`re paid but not as high as Ireland!
AND service is better.


For the past few weeks , the family medical cost would have been up to 1000euros if I lived in Ireland .

Another case , is where my friend travelled home , child got sick , went to local doctor & was asked if
he was paying by travel insurance ....Cost went up
because of Insurance

Ireland needs to bring in accountability
If a patient pays , he gets a receipt based on
doctors tax #

In general , doctors should be paid well but costs
should be controlled and this includes medicine as
well !!
It is another case of ripoff Ireland and this is a
parson living in Japan(expensive country in the world)
and I think that doctor/insurance/food are more expensive in Ireland

Also service is pretty bad in Ireland & you can include
the medical in that as well
 
Another case , is where my friend travelled home , child got sick , went to local doctor & was asked if
Click to expand...

If this is true, your friend should report this to the [broken link removed] claim fraud hotline.
 
GP

I had a case where my French inlaws visited a local GP at his surgery. They had their E111 with them. GP claimed a higher fee as he recorded it as a home visit!
 
Hi RainyDay

The friend is not going hang around and waste his
time . He is on holidays and it was his local family doctor
Also about reporting , I don`t think that the Insurance
companies are going to pass the "PROFIT" to their
customers .
Insurance companies are PART of the ripoff!!

Another point
Insurance company is japanese & not Irish

This is going off topic !!

What I`m essentially saying

Prices have gone up
Services standard have not !!
Middle class etc will not have health insurance
as is the trend in USA
 
GP - Prices and Service.

My GP (well you get whoever is on at the time) charged €45 a visit. Last week I changed to one who charges €35.

Surgeries here are antiquated and show no signs of reinvestment. I sometimes wonder if doctors keep themselves up to speed in modern medicine as they flick endlessly through their Mims directory for prompting.

I well remember going to my doctor as I had a bad cold that I couldn't shake off. I also had ferocious hip pain. Spent an hour in the waiting room and 5 mins in his consultation room. He treated my cold but told me to come back about my hip. (his thinking was obviously €45 + €45). That wouldn't happen in any other country.

So Naughton I agree with you.
 
GP - Prices and Service.

Thanks Rainyday. Sounded like some sort of evasion to me.
 
Re: GP - Prices and Service.

Hi Naughton - It sounds like you/your friend is ranting without actually being prepared to do anything constructive to fix the problem. He won't have to extend their holiday to complain. Just write them a letter or an email - it will take 5 minutes.

If GP posts are a licence to print money, one wonders why [broken link removed].
 
Re: GP - Prices and Service.

Hi RainyDay
Reporting is not going to increase # of GPs
Again going off topic
Best to create a separate thread on this

>Young doctors could not afford huge mortgages and >the cost of staffing a new GP practice

Welcome to the real world of business & life !
This is the same for everyone


From what I can see
Why don`t we create an office where we can have a
number of GPs & not just one

In a typical irish town , there`re single GPs
& they`re not too young either


From what I understand , being a consultant is
less hours and better money but as in any business
people will start their own business sooner or later

The lack of GPs is NOT the cause of the crazy prices
that are set in Ireland
I`m speaking from the most expensive country in
the World....Japan

it is ripoff & unless we say that the prices will go to
100euros in the near future!
When I tell people in Japan about the prices , they`re
totally shocked
 
Re: GP - Prices and Service.

Reporting is not going to increase # of GPs
Click to expand...
No - but it will prevent that doctor from overcharging in future, which was a significant part of your complaint. Why wouldn't he/you be prepared to report it?
 
Re: GP - Prices and Service.

I find it very hard to believe that any sane doctor would put their reputation, practising cert and career at risk by fraudulently claiming a clinic appointment as a home visit - least of all when the patient is in a position to know this.

It is all very well for people to rant & rave about doctors charging too much but when people embellsih their complaints by saying things like "and they`re not too young either" (as if one's age was any reflection of their professionalism etc) you must ask whether the tirades are motivated by logic and reason or something else entirely.
 
Re: GP - Prices and Service.

Tommy. Should I name and Shame?

Irish GP €45. French GP €18. What is it in Japan? The UK? Germany? Australia?
 
Re: GP - Prices and Service.

Feel free to do so on strict condition that you provide your own name, address and contact details with a statement assuming full responsibility for liability in the event of a successful defamation action by the person(s) involved.

BTW, you are not necessarily comparing like with like in comparing Irish GP charges with those in France or elsewhere. Afaik in France, a large part of GP fees are subsidised directly by the State via punitive personal taxation. This may also be the case in other countries. I doubt very much if GPs cost much less in the UK than they do here. Also, doctors don't charge €45 per visit in my neck of the woods.
 
Re: GP - Prices and Service.

Japan:

Just paying government PRSI
doctor visit
Children till 6 ....Free in certain areas of Tokyo
Other places of Tokyo ...about 8-10euros

Adult Visit
10-15 Euros

BTW
Taxes/PRSI are not high

Tommy:
I feel that people make a lot of excuses for prices
Compare to France/Germany , the service is better there

Point that I`m making is
1. Service is better for Taxes/Price you pay aboard
2. Ireland prices have skyrocketed for any excuse
that Irish people make
3. "Some" doctors charge extra prices for insurance
claims ..There is no fix price so Insurance
companies can`t claim

Now look at prices above for Japan & tell me that
I`m crazy !
Don`t make excuses by saying taxes/service etc
I can tell u that I`ve access to X-rays/MRI within a
day & pay nothing extra

You need private insurance here for long hospital stays etc but that is the same everywhere !

MI
Irish people need to stop making excuses on paying
prices that are that crazy
 
GP - Prices and Service.

Ones disbelief doesn't alter the nature of the fact Tommy but your advice is appreciated. In passing, if one printed or said something and a person took a defamation action and lost what are the possible outcomes?
 
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