waiting time for surgeon appointment

suave.4u

Hi All,

My friend's son (just 7 months old) has been diagnosed with reflux in one of the kidneys (grade 4) after a MCUG test.
Of course we are all petrified with the result and the doctor has recommended a meeting with the surgeon to check if surgery is needed.
As per research that we have done, such patients should take medicines daily to prevent infections. My question is:

1) The tallaght hospital seems to be very slow in giving us appointment dates. The next appointment for the doctor is given after 3 months and they haven't yet sent us the surgeon appointment even after 2 weeks of meeting the doctor.
Is it always this late? we think this would be bad for the baby (he is not taking any medicines as of now).

2) can we request for the reports so that we can do some more research of our own and get a second opinion.

3) we don't have insurance or medical card. For every visit, the hospital sends us a bill of 75 euros. Also the kid was admitted for 5 days and we were charged 350 euros for this. How long do we have to pay like this; do i need to pay the future bills...cause this would go on and on.

Regards,

suave.4u

guys...anyone please

chanste

suave.4u wrote: »

Hi All,

My friend's son (just 7 months old) has been diagnosed with reflux in one of the kidneys (grade 4) after a MCUG test.
Of course we are all petrified with the result and the doctor has recommended a meeting with the surgeon to check if surgery is needed.
As per research that we have done, such patients should take medicines daily to prevent infections. My question is:

1) The tallaght hospital seems to be very slow in giving us appointment dates. The next appointment for the doctor is given after 3 months and they haven't yet sent us the surgeon appointment even after 2 weeks of meeting the doctor.
Is it always this late? we think this would be bad for the baby (he is not taking any medicines as of now).

2) can we request for the reports so that we can do some more research of our own and get a second opinion.

3) we don't have insurance or medical card. For every visit, the hospital sends us a bill of 75 euros. Also the kid was admitted for 5 days and we were charged 350 euros for this. How long do we have to pay like this; do i need to pay the future bills...cause this would go on and on.

Regards,

Hi there, not sure how useful this will be (I'm a med student and don't have that much exposure to what goes on with administration for appointments etc) but since no one else replied....

1) This kind of time frame doesn't seem too unusual to me, and although your concern is understandable, I think that if the doctor thought it was urgent enough to warrant it - he would have ensured a hastier appointment with your surgeon.
2) Pretty sure you can. But be careful about researching things on your own. You already sound more concerned than the doctor is (which again is understandable) but I can't see them taking chances. He probably knows what he is doing but hasn't communicated this well enough (Pure speculation on my part - But call him if you are worried; you won't be the first to have ever done so)
3) Ask the hospital about this. As tight as things are, they have a good reputation for not hounding people for money they can't afford. I also think there is a limit to how much you can be charged in any given year or for any one recurring problem but its a while since I've checked and they have been cost cutting so asking the hospital is the only way to be sure.

I sympathise with anybody who is worried about there health or the health of someone they know, but as helpful as folks on the boards are no one will be able to give you better answers than you'll get by picking up the phone and calling the hospital regarding payments or the doctors concerned regarding your worries.

araic88

Hi, sorry I can't help with 1. or 2. but regarding costs, this is from www.hse.ie

If you stay overnight as a public patient in a public hospital, you are an in-patient. From January 1 2009, in-patients are charged a standard fee of €75 per night, up to a maximum of €750 in one year. This represents a small fraction of the cost of your care.

suave.4u

araic88 wrote: »

Hi, sorry I can't help with 1. or 2. but regarding costs, this is from www.hse.ie

If you stay overnight as a public patient in a public hospital, you are an in-patient. From January 1 2009, in-patients are charged a standard fee of €75 per night, up to a maximum of €750 in one year. This represents a small fraction of the cost of your care.

ya, I also heard this. Is it €750 for in-patients only (cause we will need many many more outpatient visit and can't afford to pay €75 each time we go

Gottalovegreys

suave.4u wrote: »

ya, I also heard this. Is it €750 for in-patients only (cause we will need many many more outpatient visit and can't afford to pay €75 each time we go

I have never heard of having to pay for a public outpatients appointment, and I've been to quite a few

The only time I've been charged for a day appointment is when I've been admitted as a day case, i.e for tests such as colonoscopy, or laparoscopic surgery. i have certainly never paid for routine outpatients appointments.

suave.4u

Gottalovegreys wrote: »

I have never heard of having to pay for a public outpatients appointment, and I've been to quite a few

The only time I've been charged for a day appointment is when I've been admitted as a day case, i.e for tests such as colonoscopy, or laparoscopic surgery. i have certainly never paid for routine outpatients appointments.

Thanks for your post. The first time we went, the kid was admitted for 5 days and we were charged EUR 350. Then there was a MCUG test and we got a bill for EUR 75.
2 days back we had an appointment with the doc; haven't got any bill till now. So, nice to know that outpatients aren't charged.

The hospital staff are very nice. We have full faith in them. I am just worried that the costs would escalate and my pal is very tight these days. But if the costs are lot, then maybe I would take an insurance for him...was just thinking on that lines.

Gottalovegreys

Hopefully he gets sorted out asap

suave.4u

Haven't got the surgeon's appointment ever after 4 weeks of meeting the doctor.
Called the hospital last week, and they said that it has been handed to the typing department (it took them 3 weeks to do this)..Now I wonder how long it will take them to type this..


Now they will say it is xmas...