Can I see this doctor? Price is outrageous but more than just a money issue

LegacyUser

Hi,
My doctor set me up with an appointment to see a psychiatrist and the psychiatrist costs 240 euro for the first meeting and 150 there after. I'm not sure how long the appointments are but is this not an incredibly high price.

Money aside I'm not sure if I feel comfortable going into some *money whore* to discuss my problems. How could she care so much about my problems if she is fleecing me? Who the hell deserves to charge that much money no matter how qualified?

Her secretary said in the letter that I needed to confirm the appointment as the doctor is very busy. Fair enough I can confirm the appointment but why should I care how busy she is. I think it's insensitive to somebody going in with problems who needs to be able to relax to explain them.

Am I being a little too sensitive over this or should I tell her to **** off.

coco85

If the doc recommended attending this specialist then you should go see one.. as for the price maybe you can go back to your doc and ask if there is a specialist he can recommend who is not as expensive...

Teamhar

That seems pretty pricey to me. A close work colleague was seeing a therapist for a while and each session of up to an hour was around €60. By all accounts, she was great too- trying to get my fiance to go see her!

the glass woman

Yes 60 seems to be the norm with many operating on a sliding scale if needs be. Personally, i'd be looking to be referred to someone else, as i don't see how anyone could afford to pay that kind of money on a regular basis, and i'm presuming that in order for the counselling to be of any use, it would need to be a regular thing..

minidazzler

OP find out ho long this session is,

If its an all day let's talk about you then go for it.

If it is an hour long, you may want to find be referred somewhere else.

Crumble Froo

are there no community based psychiatrist/psychologists in your area? you should ask your doctor, i know i was directed towards one a couple of years ago, quite cheap. as it happened, it didnt work out for me, and i ended up having to go private, but i was under age at the time, and my parents had waaaay too much say in how things went with the first ones.

and to be honest, yes i think you are being a bit sensitive about the psychiatrist being busy... i don't say that as a dig, i constantly have to remind myself not to take thing personally/oversensitively, but remember s/he is a professional, is busy, and if you don't want the booking, then there are otehr people s/he could be helping out. it's difficult trying to accommodate everybody sometimes.

MarkR

whatshouldido wrote: »

Hi,
My doctor set me up with an appointment to see a psychiatrist and the psychiatrist costs 240 euro for the first meeting and 150 there after. I'm not sure how long the appointments are but is this not an incredibly high price.

Money aside I'm not sure if I feel comfortable going into some *money whore* to discuss my problems. How could she care so much about my problems if she is fleecing me? Who the hell deserves to charge that much money no matter how qualified?

Her secretary said in the letter that I needed to confirm the appointment as the doctor is very busy. Fair enough I can confirm the appointment but why should I care how busy she is. I think it's insensitive to somebody going in with problems who needs to be able to relax to explain them.

Am I being a little too sensitive over this or should I tell her to **** off.

I don't see how confirming an appointment is insensitive. If you didn't confirm how would the therapist be able to know you where coming?

You should care about how busy she is as common courtesy really. I have no idea on prices, so can't say whether it is low or high, but are you looking for excuses not to go maybe?

sam34

confirming the appointment is a mere courtesy. if you dont take up the appointment then it can be offered to someone else who does want it. i know of some places who will assume youre not coming if you dont confirm, and will issue the appointment to someone else.

i think the price is a bit steep, tbh. now, im a psychiatrist, and i dont do private work, but i know of friends and colleagues who do, and none of them are this dear. not that it should matter, but are you based in dublin - it may be dearer there, i dont know. a first appointment with a psychiatrist is usually an hour long, return appts are usually 20 to 30 mins.

you might want to consider being referred to the public services in your area.

vincenzo1975

can you claim any of this back via health insurance/tax on med 1 form, it may make it more palatable if you can. Your doctor should advise on this. Also, if you are not happwith the price, ask your GP to recommend someone cheaper or an alternative therapy.

von Neumann

Wow. that's a lot of cash. If she's a psychiatrist then she's medical doctor who has gone on to specialise in psychiatry (I'm open to correction on this), so she'll be very well qualified.
And while it is very expensive, if she'll be assesing you for say 45 - 60 mins then she's no more expensive than your GP :-0.
GP vist at 60 euro for 10mins.

af_thefragile

^yes, you're right bout that. Psychiatrists are medical doctors who have specialised in psychiatry. They're much better qualified than counsellors but deal with more deeper chemical disturbances in brain. Like a psychiatrist is more likely to end up prescribing you with anti-depressent or other drugs than actually help you out with your problem.
Though i can't say it for sure. I'm a med student and i really like psychology, i'm thinking of becoming a psychiatrist myself. And i absolutely don't believe in drugs as solutions. Like sometimes they are. But thats only when you've got a physical problem with your brain. If its just a mental/emotional problem, you're better off fixing it by getting to the root of the problem and solving it.

I think you should give a shot first and see what she's like before signing her off like that. If the money is not an issue.
You never know she could be twice better than the other counsellors who charge €60. And you could get a lot more from one visit with her than you'ld with 2 visits with a counsellor??
So just go and see if you feel comfortable with her and find her helpful.
Is you find her not any much better than a counsellor who'ld charge you €60, go back to the GP and ask him to recommend someone not as expensive as her...!

LegacyUser

Its ridiculous how much we pay in Ireland for medical expenses. Most of the doctors I have seen haven't a clues really. I have very little confidence in them.

240 euros an hour is a complete scam, and it sounds like the just want too take you too the cleaners.

Compared to other countries like France and Germany Ireland has a very poor health service....You'd get better treatment in 3rd world countries.

The problem is everyone is just so greedy over here, very few people actually care enough too provide proper, fair and affordable services that are done well.

Ireland sucks just so much right now.

Deadevil129

I went to a Neurologist and payed exactly that. I thought it was worth it but a neurologist isn't somebody I'm going to be seeing very often, twice a year at most so I wouldn't consider €300 a year a lot for the top class care I get, especially when I can claim about €100 back on health insurance and some more from Med1. That said if I was in your shoes, I'd be looking for someone cheaper, if you have a letter of referal from your GP just ring some up and ask. You don't know how often you're going to be going yet so this could cost you a small fortune.

Lux23

I think if the doc is sending you to this woman then you should go. Any meds she prescribes for you should be free so that will save you a few quid.

Bottle_of_Smoke

Ring the GP and explain you can't afford it. Ask what your options are. If it's a psychiatrist it's going to cost more than a psychologist, they're completely different types of occupation so there's no point comparing the prices.

I'm a med student and i really like psychology, i'm thinking of becoming a psychiatrist myself. And i absolutely don't believe in drugs as solutions. Like sometimes they are. But thats only when you've got a physical problem with your brain. If its just a mental/emotional problem, you're better off fixing it by getting to the root of the problem and solving it.

I agree with your sentiments but a medical professional has actually referred the OP to a psychiatrist. For all you know the OP could have something physical that a psychologist can't help. You're effectively giving medical advice if you tell them to go to a psychologist instead.

OP you can claim tax relief on this.

LegacyUser

whatshouldido wrote: »

Hi,
My doctor set me up with an appointment to see a psychiatrist and the psychiatrist costs 240 euro for the first meeting and 150 there after. I'm not sure how long the appointments are but is this not an incredibly high price.

As someone else pointed out here, a psychiatrist is a medical consultant and as such is going to be a lot more expensive than seeing a counsellor. Yes 240e/150e is dear but it's the same as you would pay if you were seeing a neurologist/endocrinologist/gastroenterologist etc in a private practice. Maybe go back to your doctor and ask if there's a public psychiatrist you can be referred to. The waiting list will be much longer but it'd be cheaper or possibly free. Alternatively you could try explaining to the psychiatrist when you see her that you can't afford that price and see if they'd see you at a reduced rate. It's worth a shot. I know of a few who've done that though it's totally at their individual discretion.

Her secretary said in the letter that I needed to confirm the appointment as the doctor is very busy. Fair enough I can confirm the appointment but why should I care how busy she is. I think it's insensitive to somebody going in with problems who needs to be able to relax to explain them.

Am I being a little too sensitive over this or should I tell her to **** off.

Again that's standard practice for most consultant appointments. Asking you to confirm as the doctor is very busy is unlikely to mean that the doctor wants to emphasise how busy she is but instead to make sure that if you don't want the appointment that it can be given to someone else on the waiting list. I do think you're being a bit too sensitive but I can understand that it's daunting attending a psychiatrist for the first time. I've been there. I personally find the best way to look at it is like you would a visit to any doctor and unfortunately with that comes the reality of charges, waiting lists, appointment confirmations etc. but it's your health so sometimes you have to take the bad with the good.

Lux23 wrote: »

I think if the doc is sending you to this woman then you should go. Any meds she prescribes for you should be free so that will save you a few quid.

Why would they be free? Just wondering cos I always had to pay for my psychiatrist-prescribed meds.

af_thefragile

Bottle_of_Smoke wrote: »

Ring the GP and explain you can't afford it. Ask what your options are. If it's a psychiatrist it's going to cost more than a psychologist, they're completely different types of occupation so there's no point comparing the prices.



I agree with your sentiments but a medical professional has actually referred the OP to a psychiatrist. For all you know the OP could have something physical that a psychologist can't help. You're effectively giving medical advice if you tell them to go to a psychologist instead.

OP you can claim tax relief on this.

Yes, i never said don't go to the psychiatrist. Infact i did tell him to give the psychiatrist a shot and see how it goes.

I don't know anything bout the OP's history so i can't tell what his problem is and whether it could be psychological or physical. The GP knows best and i'm sure he's got OP's best interest in his mind when he referred the OP to the psychiatrist. Unless the GP is a greedy bastard, which i doubt...

sam34

sam34 wrote: »

you might want to consider being referred to the public services in your area.

+1

What area do you live in?

sam34

af_thefragile wrote: »

^yes, you're right bout that. Psychiatrists are medical doctors who have specialised in psychiatry. They're much better qualified than counsellors but deal with more deeper chemical disturbances in brain. Like a psychiatrist is more likely to end up prescribing you with anti-depressent or other drugs than actually help you out with your problem.
QUOTE]

well, yes. psychiatrists are doctors who are trained and qualified to treat people with mental illness. by and large, you treat illnesses with drugs. psychiatrists are (usually) not psychologists/counsellors/life coaches/occupational therapists/therapists of any sort. again, by and large, psychiatrists are not people you go to with "issues" and life problems to be sorted out. you go to a psychiatrist when you're sick.

people sometimes complain that their psychiatrist doesnt talk to them about their problems enough, or doesnt counsel them.... why would psychiatrists do something theyre not trained to do? if you want counselling, go to a counsellor.

Victor

About medication - there is a psychiatric scheme wher ehte medication is free. I don't know what the criteria is though.

There is also the long term illness scheme where you should't have to pay more than about €90 per month on all medications.

sam34

Victor wrote: »

About medication - there is a psychiatric scheme wher ehte medication is free. I don't know what the criteria is though.
.

is there? i never heard of this.. do you know where its running or if its a nationwide thing?

Victor

sam34 wrote: »

is there? i never heard of this.. do you know where its running or if its a nationwide thing?

I suspect its only in the former Eastern Health Board area (other areas did other free schemes), but I suggest you check.

eth0_

Teamhar wrote: »

That seems pretty pricey to me. A close work colleague was seeing a therapist for a while and each session of up to an hour was around €60. By all accounts, she was great too- trying to get my fiance to go see her!

A therapist is not the same thing as a psychiatrist. A psychiatrist is a registrar or consultant in psychiatric medicine.

OP - that is an average price to pay to see any kind of consultant.
Do you have medical insurance? Could you ask your GP for a referral somewhere cheaper?

Definitely see a psychiatrist if that is what your GP recommends. Whatever is wrong, don't let it spiral out of control.

JuliusCaesar

hi OP. psychologist here.
That would be a normal kind of price to see a Consultant Psychiatrist privately.

You could also see a Psychiatrist in the HSE for free, in which case medication is free too.

The normal waiting list to see a HSE psychiatrist is about 2 weeks.

You may not see a Consultant in the HSE, but you'll probably see a Registrar (Doctor specialising in Psychiatry) and they will review all new patients with the Consultant, usually in your absense. They'll arrange extra time to see you for the first visit but probably not as much time as in a private practice.

Seeing a psychiatrist privately is covered by VHI etc.

Any fees not covered by VHI can be claimed against tax on the Med 1 form from revenue.ie.

sam34

JuliusCaesar wrote: »

You could also see a Psychiatrist in the HSE for free, in which case medication is free too.
QUOTE]

medication is not automatically free in the hse. its free only if you have a medical card.

eth0_

I think it depends. If you're acutely ill with schizophrenia, they're not going to charge you for medication afaik.

sam34

if you're an in-patient, then meds are free. however, out-patients who do not have amedical card will have to pay for their meds, up to the threshold. this is something taht patients often ask me to bear in mind when prescribing for them, as some will have difficulty paying the monthly €90.