€60 for doctor to sign a form

Elessar

I was in my local doctors office yesterday to get him to sign off a medical form to apply for a provisional truck licence. I was in and out in 3 minutes.

He charged me €60!! Absolute rip off, I don't care how many years he trained. Sixty quid for less than 3 minutes of his time. Sickening. In future I will be shopping around for prices of doctors visits for this type of thing. The Irish medical council recently voted to allow doctors advertise prices, though I haven't seen any ads for them yet. Hopefully this will introduce some competition.

I know I'll probably get slated for this post but I think it's reasonable to be p*ssed off at that price.

ScouseMouse

That is unreasonable. No doubt about it.

If it was just a signature, without any examination, then yes thats a ripoff.

Go back and demand some of the money back.

Is there a price list displayed?

If it is clearly stated that signing of forms is 60 quid, then its your own fault. You accepted it. If its not clearly stated, kick up and tell the local paper.

And finally, get a new doctor!

Outkast_IRE

Thats a bit much alright if it was your usual doctor,
If it was a doctor you have never been to before and he needed to do a full exam i would understand , but 3mins of time for 60 euro is crazy!

glaston

Was it a cash payment?
If so he probably isnt paying full tax on it.
Handy number.

jahalpin

glaston wrote: »

Was it a cash payment?
If so he probably isnt paying full tax on it.
Handy number.

Why exactly would you assume that the doctor wasn't paying tax on this transaction?

Price lists are normally displayed somewhere in the office. The payment not only covers the professional experience and training of the doctor, but also includes the very high cost of medical insurance as well as the other costs involved in running a business in ROI.

By signing the form, the doctor is taking legal responsibility for the declaration on the form and will be held accountable if it is discovered that the declaration was false etc.

jahalpin

superscouse wrote: »

That is unreasonable. No doubt about it.

If it was just a signature, without any examination, then yes thats a ripoff.

Go back and demand some of the money back.

Is there a price list displayed?

If it is clearly stated that signing of forms is 60 quid, then its your own fault. You accepted it. If its not clearly stated, kick up and tell the local paper.

And finally, get a new doctor!

Perhaps the doctors wouldn't have to charge so much if the population of this country was less litigious and didn't expect huge payouts for the smallest of things.

By the way, having the form signed in order to get the licence is an investment and if all that was standing between the OP and a new job etc then 60euro was a very small price to pay.

Run_to_da_hills

I can't get over how much these crooks can still get away with it while the rest of us have softened up a bit when things have got tight.

Name and shame.

piddler

It is a rip off,
Iknow its a bit different but I erected cranes for years and every time I signed one off, If it fell out of the sky it'd be my head on the chopping board!
I served my time as a fitter then took up the job in total spent 8 years or so training.
I know its different all I'm saying is that I don't get €25 (before tax) an hour now and he can charge €60 for 3 mins it a joke

ScouseMouse

jahalpin wrote: »

Perhaps the doctors wouldn't have to charge so much if the population of this country was less litigious and didn't expect huge payouts for the smallest of things.

By the way, having the form signed in order to get the licence is an investment and if all that was standing between the OP and a new job etc then 60euro was a very small price to pay.

Thats the stupidist answer I think I have ever seen. Investment? Litigation?

What are you talking about.

The last time I looked, my doctor in Tallaght charged 20 euro to sign a form.

Yes doctors would have big expenses.

A receptionist, a premises, insurance (substantial I am sure), not to mention their own wage after spending years in further education, but thats taking the mickey.

marbar

they're taking ages, but as far as i know the gov are going to reduce the amount of time you have to train before becoming a gp
this should make more of them and reduce prices

despise paying these people

Miaireland

My local Doctor charges €10 for a form and if it is simple form that just requires a signature he often does it for free.

AmcD

The doctor wouldn't simply have just "signed the form" and given it back, if it was for a driving licence. Otherwise you would just leave the form at reception and call back for it later.
I am a GP and do the medicals/eye sight reports for driving licenses. Depending on what category of vehicle you are getting a license for, there are different examinations necessary. The most basic consultation would involve checking eyesight with an eyechart.
Considering the form probably says you are now fit to drive for 10 years, I don't think €60 is grossly unfair. Perhaps you might get an optician to do the same eyetest for cheaper (or maybe not- how much do they charge?). The GP has to stand over their signature that they have said you are fit to drive, so they are entitled to charge for this.
Just to go over the usual insinuations:

-Paying by cash doesn't mean it goes straight into the GP's back pocket.
-Revenue watch general practice very carefully
-That €60 also covers the cost of any small business eg heating, light, cost of reception staff, insurance, medical insurance etc.
-That same €60 is also subsidising the cost of the GP seeing medical card patients
-You are perfectly entitled to ring round GP surgeries to check the cost of doing a driving medical and go for the cheapest one.

HappyHarry

jahalpin wrote: »

By the way, having the form signed in order to get the licence is an investment and if all that was standing between the OP and a new job etc then 60euro was a very small price to pay.

That is exactly the kind of small mindedness that has this country in the state that it's in!

The price of this service should have NOTHING to do with whether the OP is getting a job!

HappyHarry

AmcD wrote: »

-That €60 also covers the cost of any small business eg heating, light, cost of reception staff, insurance, medical insurance etc.
-That same €60 is also subsidising the cost of the GP seeing medical card patients
-You are perfectly entitled to ring round GP surgeries to check the cost of doing a driving medical and go for the cheapest one.

How mush would all of that(light heat etc) add up to for 3 mins?

Subsidising the cost of medical card patients? I thought you were paid for them by the government? Why should be be subsidising them twice?
Sounds like a racket the me.

OP I agree it was a rip off based on your description. Was it your regular GP or a random? How often do you see this GP? (times per year).

And to all of those hiding behind "legal responsibilities" it's a great way to justify costs alright, but when is the last time a GP was in court over signing off a driving license? Furthermore when is the last time that happened and the GP got into trouble?

thebaldsoprano

Professional fees need to drop alright, like other prices have been doing, along with both public and private sector wages! Having said that, ringing around bit beforehand and getting prices might help.

On professional fees, there was an interesting letter in the Indo recently, I find this type of arrogance unbelievable.

Consultants' fees should be tripled

I am writing in response to a ridiculous rant 'Professionals must cut fees' (Letters, February 16) by Philip Green from Malahide.

When Philip next visits his cardiologist complaining of palpitations he will reluctantly hand over €160. I say this is not enough. Triple the fee.

You see, Philip's physician will have spent six years in university, then six years overworked and underpaid as a trainee in a public hospital. During that time, he or she is often at risk of needle-stick injuries, such as HIV or Hepatitis C.

When our friend from Malahide finds frozen pipes leaking during a cold spell, he'll gladly hand over €300 to his plumber.

So, Mr Green, suck it up. If you and your ilk continue to sulk then highly skilled professionals will pop off elsewhere.

Bondi is 26 degrees and very sunny this time of year. Australia is in constant need of dentists, GPs and specialists.

John Carmody
Sydney, NSW, australia

Irish Independent

ScumLord

I'm surprised you paid it in the first place, change your doctor and make sure he knows why your doing it.

I've gone into my doctor and if it was something quick like that she wouldn't charge anything.

chocgirl

I doubt there wasn't some sort of assessment. Eyesight wasn't checked? Unfortunately as we're subsidising medical card patients and there is going to be more and more of them the prices are unlikely to change.

Think it's funny how people think their doctors owe them a favour though and are shocked that they have to pay the going rate.

HappyHarry

chocgirl wrote: »

Unfortunately as we're subsidising medical card patients.

That's a nugget. Care to post the source for this information?

Fighting Irish

jahalpin wrote: »

Why exactly would you assume that the doctor wasn't paying tax on this transaction?

Price lists are normally displayed somewhere in the office. The payment not only covers the professional experience and training of the doctor, but also includes the very high cost of medical insurance as well as the other costs involved in running a business in ROI.

By signing the form, the doctor is taking legal responsibility for the declaration on the form and will be held accountable if it is discovered that the declaration was false etc.

finally, some brains

AmcD

This is the most up to date information that I could get about medical card payments to GPs. Each capitation fee is the amount paid to a GP for looking after that patient for the entire year.
The capitation fees are supposed to reflect how often a patient might visit. There is a higher payment for elderly patients- €280 per year
In the area where I work there is a very young population, all living close nearby. So for example the practice gets paid €75 for looking after a female child living less than 3 miles away, or €45 if the child is aged between 5 and 16years and living less than 3 miles away. This same payment applies whether the child is brought to the surgery every single day, or never turns up. Medical card patients attend more than private patients. An average figure would be seven visits per year. This is why private patients subsidise medical card patients.
The HSE intends to cut these fees by a further 8% later this year.

smelltheglove

AmcD wrote: »

Medical card patients attend more than private patients. An average figure would be seven visits per year. This is why private patients subsidise medical card patients.
The HSE intends to cut these fees by a further 8% later this year.

Is there proof of this? We have medical cards although knowing the doctor gets paid very little I try to attend as little as possi ble and usually if I need to see the doctor myself I dont bother at all unless I have to bring one of the kids too.

AmcD

smelltheglove wrote: »

Is there proof of this? We have medical cards although knowing the doctor gets paid very little I try to attend as little as possi ble and usually if I need to see the doctor myself I dont bother at all unless I have to bring one of the kids too.

I have tried to find a paper showing this, without having everybody wade through statistics. There are certainly Irish studies carried out by UCD, with information from ESRI etc (see page 6 of the attached study- average private visits per year 2.4, medical card visits 6.5)
Medical card patients tend to be sicker/have more need of services. If people get a service for free they also tend to use it more, because that is human nature. The NHS is a good example. A wait of up to two weeks for a routine appointment to see a GP is not uncommon because the service is completely free.
You sound very considerate about your need to visit or not.