visit to specialist

mickman

hi there

does anyone know if you can just go direct to a specialist (ENT) without going through a GP first? if so how would you get a contact number etc

St James

You'd get contact number in golden pages, but consultant might not be prepared to see you without referral from GP.

mickman

not even if i paid?

tbh

you'll almost certainly have to get a referral from your GP, the payment thing doesn't really come into it.

mickman

so if i wanted to get my ears tested and looked at , i have to go to a GP and hand over 50 euro so they can write a letter to the consultant??

tbh

mickman wrote: »

so if i wanted to get my ears tested and looked at , i have to go to a GP and hand over 50 euro so they can write a letter to the consultant??

well..the whole point of going to the GP is that the consultant doesn't get bogged down dealing with stuff that a GP can deal with. So, maybe the GP can look at and test your ears? Like, they are not just going to listen to you saying you need to go to a consultant, they are going to examine you and decide for themselves if you need to go.

btw, this is just my understanding of how the system works, If you give a consultant a ring and they tell you to come to them directly, by all means let us know.

mickman

thats crap to be honest

i should be able to see a specialist when i choose

tbh

but then no-one would go to a GP, everyone would just head straight for the consultant. Although in your case it's a pain, it really is the best for everyone.

mickman

what happens if you do get a referral letter, do you have to wait 12 months then to see the specialist or can you pay and jump to the top of the queue?

tbh

mickman wrote: »

what happens if you do get a referral letter, do you have to wait 12 months then to see the specialist or can you pay and jump to the top of the queue?

The letter you get from a GP is an introduction. It tells the consultant:

1. Who you are
2. That there really is something wrong with you that the consultant can help you with
3. That everything else has been done.

a lot of consultants will see patients privately, yes.

You're probably still going to be waiting a while tho, depends on the consultant I guess.

sam34

the purpose of seeing a gp first is not merely so they will write a letter, but so that they will write a relevant letter to teh appropriate person.

i dont know whats wrong with the OP's ears. but he may not need to see an ENT surgeon. he may need a neurologist/neuro-surgeon/dentist, or he may not need a doctor at all, he may simply need an audiologist.

that's what the GP will do - examine him, take a history and decide on teh most appropriate step.

if it were up to patients, who have no medical training, to decide who they should see, then there would be inappropriate consultations all over teh place, ultimately prolonging waiting times.

if someone had abdominal pain, they might need to see any one of a number of specialists - gastroenterologist/general surgeon/endocrinologist/hepatologist/neurologist/psychiatrist - thats where the GP comes in and determines what route to go down next.

then, because we have waiting lists and people have to be prioritised, the GP referral provides relevant info.

looking at abdominal pain - a letter saying "please see this man with abdo pain" tells you nothing.

a letter saying "please see this 68 year old man with abdo pain, weight loss, altered bowel habit and PR bleeding" tells the surgeon a hell of a lot and goes a long way towards helping the surgeon decide how urgent the referral is.

mickman

good post sam . i will attend my gp first

metrovelvet

You can go straight to a consultant if private. I have done it.

sam34

metrovelvet wrote: »

You can go straight to a consultant if private. I have done it.

that would be quite unusual, to be fair.
unless it's for obstetric care, when you dont need any gp referral.

metrovelvet

sam34 wrote: »

that would be quite unusual, to be fair.
unless it's for obstetric care, when you don't need any gp referral.

No. Pediatric surgeon.

Really? This is unusual? Because I spoke to an anesthesiologist recently who told me the same, that you dont need a GP referral if you go private. i had no problem making the appointment.

sam34

metrovelvet wrote: »

No. Pediatric surgeon.

Really? This is unusual? Because I spoke to an anesthesiologist recently who told me the same, that you dont need a GP referral if you go private. i had no problem making the appointment.

apart from obstetricians, im not aware of any group of consultants who take patients directly.

out of interest, are you based in ireland? "anaesthesiologist" rather than "anaesthetist" suggests that maybe you're not, and i don't know what the system is in otehr countries, although i would imagine it's broadly similar to here.

i don't think bypassing GP referral is a good idea, for a variety of reasons.

metrovelvet

Im in Ireland. I am American. The appointment was made in IReland

But since you asked, no you dont need a GP referral in the US.

Dr Galen

they do operate a pretty different referral system in the US alright.

Here though it's very unusual for a consultant to take patients directly, it would very much be outside the norm. I can't think of any consultants (and I know quite a number of them) that would do this unless there were very extenuating circumstances.

mickman

i called the specialist and they said they would see me no problem without the GP referral so maybe things are changing

tbh

mickman wrote: »

i called the specialist and they said they would see me no problem without the GP referral so maybe things are changing

interesting - thanks for letting us know mick. Could I ask what kind of specialist- don't answer if you don't want to.

mickman

ENT

i think more and more specialists working in ireland and foreign nationals so they dont adhere to the whole GP thing as much

tbh

mickman wrote: »

ENT

sorry, you said that already thanks Mick, best of luck, hope you get it sorted.

mickman

thanks

yeah i did, nothing wrong, just plain old anxiety :-)