Semi Private Costs

dublinparent

Hi all

We're expecting our first child and we're trying to decide on public vs semi-private. We've decided on the Coombe.

There are a lot of good advice here, which was really helpful, but I'm still unsure of the costs.

We'll be paying for it out of our own pocket, so we need to know what to expect.

Can anyone who's paid for the semi-private or private share how much it cost?

Thanks
DublinParent

ziggy23

The Rotunda is 1150 up front not sure how much after as my health insurance covers it.

dori_dormer

Booking deposit with the coombe semi private was 750. Our vhi plan gives us 250 back on that.
Anatomy scan is 160. Dating scan was 10 euro I think?

Each consultant has different costs.
I got a letter stating that multi occupancy room was 880ish a night. Single room 1000 per night.

Don't know the costs of emergency c-section/ epidurals etc as they'd be covered directly by our insurance like the consultant costs.

I think the best bet is to call the hospital and ask for their list of costs.
Do you have any insurance at all? Is there a reason you can't go public for free?

Toots

Just out of interest can the €750 be paid in 2 or 3 installments or is it all at once as soon as you ring up to book?

Keane2baMused

Toots wrote: »

Just out of interest can the €750 be paid in 2 or 3 installments or is it all at once as soon as you ring up to book?

As far as I remember I paid it at the booking in appointment. They may be able to facilitate installments though.

OP I went semi-private on my first and public second. I wouldn't waste my money on semi again. I got the same care and attention (emergency sections both times) and funnily enough there was less in my public room than when I was semi-private.

The only difference is the waiting times for appointments

Penny Dreadful

I did semi private in the Coombe last time and paid the €750 upfront in one go. The waiting times were fine which was good. However I never got to see a consultant as the one I was to see went into labour on the day of my booking appointment.
I had no issue with that as the pregnancy was fine. My only issue came with the post delivery care for an issue that developed after my daughter was born. It dragged on for months and could have ended up being a very serious problem.
I was also kept in for a week post delivery and while I had what I was paying for as in a semi private room the 4 people in one ward was just too much for me from a noise point of view. I thought I was going to lose my reason.
The epidural and all lab tests etc were covered and the only extra expense I had was the cost of the scans- I had to pay for each one of them varying from €80 (I think) up to €160 and I needed 4 of those.

This time I've opted for fully private and never regretted it. It's costing €3500 payable in instalments of €1500 at the booking appointment, €1500 at 26 weeks and the remainder at my 6 week check up. I had to pay €120 for the anomaly scan too. I'd love to get my own room this time too but I know that might not happen and it's really the dedicated consultant care I'm buying in respect of preventing a recurrence of the same post delivery issue this time around.

Kathy22

OP just to point out a lot of the cost is at the end of the pregnancy when you go into have a baby i.e the cost of the room and delivery if you choose to go semi private. Health insurers cover this part which makes going private/semi-private a little more affordable. Do you have health insurance? If not public might be the better option. I went private so can't say much about semi-private.

Keane2baMused

Kathy22 wrote: »

OP just to point out a lot of the cost is at the end of the pregnancy when you go into have a baby i.e the cost of the room and delivery if you choose to go semi private. Health insurers cover this part which makes going private/semi-private a little more affordable. Do you have health insurance? If not public might be the better option. I went private so can't say much about semi-private.

Agree with this. Unless you have health insurance it's not really affordable for most. The room cost per night is crazy.

Keane2baMused

My personal feeling is it's better to either go fully private or public. I think the semi-private option needs to be over-hauled for it to be worth people paying that amount of money.

PhoenixParker

If you're considering semi-private then I recommend looking into the domino midwife led scheme and the early transfer home scheme instead.

If you're low risk and straightforward it has the advantages of semi-private without any cost. You attend local clinics for most of your appointments which cuts out the long wait times and hassle of the hospital. You can go home to your own bed quickly after the baby is born so that you don't have to deal with the public ward.

dublinparent

Hi all

Thank you for all your valuable advice.

I'll try to clarify the situation. We have health insurance, but the cover is basic. €400 towards in-patent stay and €300 towards consultancy fees. We know the public service is good, but we're considering going semi-private for the smaller rooms and appointment times for your check-ups.

It's very difficult to determine the cost of this. If it was €3/4k we would do it. If it was €10k, we wouldn't.

We're looking at the Combined Care with the GP. The domino scheme looks great but for our catchment area it would mean attending Holles Street which we don't want to do.

Any further advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

Keane2baMused

dublinparent wrote: »

Hi all

Thank you for all your valuable advice.

I'll try to clarify the situation. We have health insurance, but the cover is basic. €400 towards in-patent stay and €300 towards consultancy fees. We know the public service is good, but we're considering going semi-private for the smaller rooms and appointment times for your check-ups.

It's very difficult to determine the cost of this. If it was €3/4k we would do it. If it was €10k, we wouldn't.

We're looking at the Combined Care with the GP. The domino scheme looks great but for our catchment area it would mean attending Holles Street which we don't want to do.

Any further advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

Just to say when I was semi-private there was 4 in my room, public there was 3 as the ward wasn't full.

I think the room cost for the potential of having 2 less in your room than in public is astronomical.

If all goes fine two nights is all you will have to stay and tbh whether there is 4/6 or even just two in your room it's almost impossible to sleep soundly.

lazygal

I didn't attend the Coombe but I think semip is a swizz. There seems to be very little extra and the semip ward I spent a night on was no different to the public wards. And anyone I know who did it first either went public or fully private on subsequent pregnancies. If money was tight I'd keep your money for other expenses rather than semiprivate.

Kantava

I'm going private. Rate i pay is 2750 and I get 300 back from that from health insurance. My health insurance covers private room for 3 nights at birth and subsequent nights at semi private (eg in case of c section.)

irishgirl19

You pay consultant fee + scans AFAIK.
Consultant fees 900 ish and scans max 400