Doctors office. Was I ripped off?

Archeron

Hi all,
Hope this is the right forum, just want to ask fellow boardies opinions as to whether or not I was actually ripped off.

A couple of weeks back, a medical problem came to annoy me, and had me in a pretty bad way. I needed to see somebody straight away, so decided to ring my doctor for an emergency appointment.
The doctors reception said they would ring me right back and let me know what times she might have, but didnt ring me for two hours. When I rang again, she told me the doctor was too busy, and would not see me. I asked what I should do instead, and she told me to ring out of hours doctor, (this was at 3pm in the day). I did that, and the out of hours, not surprisingly, said they could not help as it was too early and their were no medical staff available.

The nice lady on that line asked me the nature of my problem, and when I told her, she agreed that I had to see somebody immediately. She told me that I should ring back the doctor and tell him I needed a referral letter for the local hospital. I did this, and the doctor seemed very unhappy about me asking for this. He actually commented and said "sure, you havent seen me since October 08".
Pardon me for not being ill more often, I will try and catch bubonic plague this year......

When I got there to collect the letter, the receptionist told me to go into his office, and he would give me what I needed. I did this, and he handed me the letter and told me to speak to reception. The receptionist then asked for €50, and when I asked for what, she snidely replied "well, you seen the doctor didnt you". The receipt I got specified a "doctors consultation", even though he refused to see me, didnt examine me, and only hand wrote a referral letter which he gave me very begrudgingly. This probably would not have bothered me as much if he had actually agreed to see me, but he point blank refused even though he knew what the problem was. I feel he just wanted to get money out of me for the whole 6 seconds it took him to hand me that letter.

Am I correct in thinking I got ripped off or is this standard practice? I want to make sure that if I'm moaning about this, that I'm right to

Thanks

sf80

From my own experience I found that there is a different fee for a simple referral letter; my own doctor is a €50 consultation, but something like €20 for a letter.

I would raise this with some medical standards body if I were you; sounds like you were treated badly then charged for a service you didn't receive.

Edit, just to put my own doctor in some context...

My own doctor once asked me if I could touch my toes when I was looking for a referral letter for a confirmed broken back (Tullamore hospital called me a week after being admitted & discharged from there saying they found my back was broken in two places and I needed to get to Tallaght hospital immediately). So maybe he's cheaper for a reason

blossom180

Archeron wrote: »

Hi all,
Hope this is the right forum, just want to ask fellow boardies opinions as to whether or not I was actually ripped off.

A couple of weeks back, a medical problem came to annoy me, and had me in a pretty bad way. I needed to see somebody straight away, so decided to ring my doctor for an emergency appointment.
The doctors reception said they would ring me right back and let me know what times she might have, but didnt ring me for two hours. When I rang again, she told me the doctor was too busy, and would not see me. I asked what I should do instead, and she told me to ring out of hours doctor, (this was at 3pm in the day). I did that, and the out of hours, not surprisingly, said they could not help as it was too early and their were no medical staff available.

The nice lady on that line asked me the nature of my problem, and when I told her, she agreed that I had to see somebody immediately. She told me that I should ring back the doctor and tell him I needed a referral letter for the local hospital. I did this, and the doctor seemed very unhappy about me asking for this. He actually commented and said "sure, you havent seen me since October 08".
Pardon me for not being ill more often, I will try and catch bubonic plague this year......

When I got there to collect the letter, the receptionist told me to go into his office, and he would give me what I needed. I did this, and he handed me the letter and told me to speak to reception. The receptionist then asked for €50, and when I asked for what, she snidely replied "well, you seen the doctor didnt you". The receipt I got specified a "doctors consultation", even though he refused to see me, didnt examine me, and only hand wrote a referral letter which he gave me very begrudgingly. This probably would not have bothered me as much if he had actually agreed to see me, but he point blank refused even though he knew what the problem was. I feel he just wanted to get money out of me for the whole 6 seconds it took him to hand me that letter.

Am I correct in thinking I got ripped off or is this standard practice? I want to make sure that if I'm moaning about this, that I'm right to

Thanks

once you have a referral letter from your doctor you will not have to pay the 100 euro to the hospital,50 euro saved.

davo10

I assume the Dr. asked you what the problem was, he would have needed to know so as to refer you to the correct Hospital department. This is a requirement as a GP would not refer without some knowledge of the complaint. Was it that serious that you could not wait for an appointment?, most GPs have specific emergency times, eg 9am and 2pm, this allows them to have plan their appointment schedule and I know that if I rang my GP at 3pm and said I wanted to be seen now, he would say no and advise me (assuming I wasn't having a heart attack/stroke etc) to present at the next emergency time. Remember virtually all patients who visit Doctors are ill, it is not inconcievable that the patients he was seeing when you rang were sicker than you. Without a referral letter you have to wait in casualty, then be triaged, then the relevant hospital Dr. is paged, then you are examined, then admitted etc, with a referral letter the GP requests that you be seen by a specific consultant's team eg A&E, Cardiac, Oncology etc, this cuts down the waiting time etc. If you don't want to pay your GP, attend hospital each time you are ill, pay €100 and sit there for 24hours, your decision.

Archeron

davo10 wrote: »

I assume the Dr. asked you what the problem was, he would have needed to know so as to refer you to the correct Hospital department. This is a requirement as a GP would not refer without some knowledge of the complaint. Was it that serious that you could not wait for an appointment?, most GPs have specific emergency times, eg 9am and 2pm, this allows them to have plan their appointment schedule and I know that if I rang my GP at 3pm and said I wanted to be seen now, he would say no and advise me (assuming I wasn't having a heart attack/stroke etc) to present at the next emergency time. Remember virtually all patients who visit Doctors are ill, it is not inconcievable that the patients he was seeing when you rang were sicker than you. Without a referral letter you have to wait in casualty, then be triaged, then the relevant hospital Dr. is paged, then you are examined, then admitted etc, with a referral letter the GP requests that you be seen by a specific consultant's team eg A&E, Cardiac, Oncology etc, this cuts down the waiting time etc. If you don't want to pay your GP, attend hospital each time you are ill, pay €100 and sit there for 24hours, your decision.

Thanks for the replies all, as I said in the OP, I just wanted to see other peoples opinions on this, as I wasnt sure and some people had said that the 50 charge was a little unfair, but I wasnt sure.

Davo10, it was quite a serious issue, in that I was losing a lot of blood and could not stop it, that was the reason I asked for an urgent appointment. I dont expect any treatment above and beyond anybody else, and was just very worried about the amount of blood I had lost. And trust me, I have experienced the joys of A&E with a sick family member way too many times in the past, so I know exactly what that is like.

The doctor referred me to the hospital as I had explained the problem to him, and I was seen very quickly in the hospital, so I have no problem with that. Just wanted to know if the €50 charge was a rip off or not, but if its fifty euro saved, I guess that answers my question.

Cheers everybody.

smelltheglove

I am surprised the doctor refused to see you for a serious issue in the first place never mind the charge. Whether you argue the charge or not I would be inclined to change doctor.

I have been very lucky with any doctors I have used, always willing to see straight away if there is a serious issue. With a wild child in this house I have 3 times needed to see the doctor as an emergency such as cuts or severe bruising. The surgery allows for this and when my daughter needed a stitch I called to say I would be there within 5 mns and they took her in straight away, stitched her up in 2 mns and wished us the best of luck. I had times myself with a different doctor where I was literally carried into the doctors office, as a teenager with no appointment and seen on the spot.

With doctors I dont think you should just take what you are given, I think it is important to have a good relationship with your doctor so they will respect your needs and in turn you will respect their time. It is rare that I call for an appointment and need to wait a day which I am grateful for as at the end of the day, most illnesses you need to see a doctor for are not really the type that you can hang around with.

davo10

Smell, all doctors will see a sick/injured child immediately, shallow cuts and bruises may not be considered an emergency by some. Everyone cannot be seen at the same time, if that were the case patients would be examined based on severity and your cuts and bruises may mean you would be sitting in the GP's waiting room for hours/days. Appointments are important and to have some order a schedule is needed ie emergencies at certain times of the day and appointments at others, all surgeries operate this way. Better GP's tend to be busy so it is sometimes more difficult to see them when it suits you.

paulcorr

On the doctors thing i had a car crash in may which resulted in me having to go to the doctor.I had alot of back pain and was told to come back every couple of weeks to see how i was getting on.I paid my 45euro on my first visit and then the next 5 or 6 visits cost nothing as it was for the same problem.But in july i went for my usual visit but my doctor was on holidays,couple of days later i recieved a bill for 45euro.When i rang and complained about it i was told well you have not paid for any of your previous 5 or 6 visits so you cant expect to not pay all the time you visit the doctor.I pointed out that my usual doctor was on holidays and they said it was not them but the doctor who issued the bill for the visit.Can this be right that i have to pay for a visit for the same compaint just because my doctor was on holidays.

davo10

C'mon Paul, you had 6 visits and got charged for one, I'd say that is an impressive result and I think you are very lucky. Many people have chronic conditions (eg asthmatics) which require multiple visits and have to pay each time, you are after all seeing the Doctor, he is examining/treating you when he could be seeing another patient, so why wouldn't he be paid. If I were you I wouldn't complain because you can be gauranteed you will be paying for every visit in future if you do, and if you change Doctors, you will probably be charged by the new one. It never ceases to amaze me how some people are never pleased even if they get something for free.