Consultants in Private Practice Earnings

Iwantone

Having had the misfortune of being quoted €375 for an initial consultancy about a nerve problem I’ve been having it’s brought up the area of how much these people actually earn.

A friend who’s sister is a consultant in private practice reckons she’s pulling a €1M pa. Astounding but entirely possible considering a friend who was organising a mortgage for a consultant back in 2008 told me the consultant at the time was pulling €600K.

Is a million possible...

Kivaro

Consultants can pretty much charge any price that they want, and they will get it. Was recently talking to a foreign doctor in an Irish GP practice who was appalled at the state of the Irish health system and noted that the current system is only going to get worse.

Has anyone tried to get an appointment privately with a consultant recently? The waiting period for many of the disciplines is inordinate. Lots of Irish people are going overseas for timely appointments, but that has its own risks. There are many, many Irish people paying for private treatment and have no private health insurance. They are doing this because they are desperate.
The HSE should be dismantled. It is not fit for purpose.

whippet

A private consultant can charge what he likes ... but I’d have issues with them being allowed to mix that with public work and use of public facilities.

However .. I’d take a much bigger issue with a financial services professional gossiping about a clients financial details

mvl

Kivaro wrote: »

Consultants can pretty much charge any price that they want, and they will get it. Was recently talking to a foreign doctor in an Irish GP practice who was appalled at the state of the Irish health system and noted that the current system is only going to get worse.

Has anyone tried to get an appointment privately with a consultant recently? The waiting period for many of the disciplines is inordinate. Lots of Irish people are going overseas for timely appointments, but that has its own risks. There are many, many Irish people paying for private treatment and have no private health insurance. They are doing this because they are desperate.

• Really, I don't mind them charging super fees: I do mind having to wait 6 months for a private appointment - while the public system would get me to wait 18-24 months or longer for same thing.

• Another example of system failure: think I read in this country the number of designated neurologists in total is 16. I've emigrated here from a city of 300k ppl, with an average University of medicine: there are few times more neurologists in that city alone than in this entire country.

- I am sure there are plenty of specialties where it's as bad.

Kivaro wrote: »

The HSE should be dismantled. It is not fit for purpose.

I totally agree, the system needs to be tore down and everything rebuilt from scratch. But in a country like Ireland, what would it take to get the government to do something about it - just us complaining on forums can't help.

splinter65

Like anyone else who has a service to sell, a consultant can charge whatever he or she likes, and people who wish to purchase the service can buy it or take their business elsewhere.
A lot of hard work and patience and sacrifice went into reaching the point where someone can be referred to as “consultant” in the medical profession. The responsibility that comes with it is pretty heavy too.
A million doesn’t seem unreasonable to me.

strandroad

splinter65 wrote: »

The responsibility that comes with it is pretty heavy too.

Is there actually much responsibility involved in the likes of "€375 for an initial consultancy about a nerve problem" visits as quoted in the OP? You can visit three different consultants and get three different answers. I don't think they are answerable to anyone at this stage if they do not diagnose you correctly, or at all.

shesty

They can charge what they like as far as I am concerned.But once they are charging it while sitting in an office in a private practice (that is not adjacent to, part of, or on the grounds of, a public facility), and are available in their practice Monday to Friday (and not just Mondays and Tuesdays, because the rest of the week they are covering public patients), and routing their patients to beds in a private hospital, and not into theatres and wards in a public hospital....then that's just fine.

But this is Ireland.And pigs may fly.

Iwantone

splinter65 wrote: »

Like anyone else who has a service to sell, a consultant can charge whatever he or she likes, and people who wish to purchase the service can buy it or take their business elsewhere.
A lot of hard work and patience and sacrifice went into reaching the point where someone can be referred to as “consultant” in the medical profession. The responsibility that comes with it is pretty heavy too.
A million doesn’t seem unreasonable to me.

Appreciate your point of view but the mechanism to get to a million is purely down to supply and demand. The two year plus wait to see a neurologist in the public system allows them to get away with charging €375 for a 15 to 20 minute meeting. It has nothing to do with the level of care or experience.

You will see the same doc in the public system albeit two years + later.

mvl

Iwantone wrote: »

Appreciate your point of view but the mechanism to get to a million is purely down to supply and demand. The two year plus wait to see a neurologist in the public system allows them to get away with charging €375 for a 15 to 20 minute meeting. It has nothing to do with the level of care or experience.

You will see the same doc in the public system albeit two years + later.

Actually, if you can't imagine 5+ years waiting time on appointment for neurology, have a look at this https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/health/it-was-bizarre-mans-shock-at-2024-appointment-to-see-neurologist-36635021.html
And more on HSE and their lack of ...effectiveness in addressing Ireland's neurology services at http://www.irishhealth.com/article.html?id=9464
Would be worth noting that my first and only neurology appointment back home was costing me less than 50 EUR, and I rang about my appointment just few weeks before I flew in.
- I digress here, but the resource prioritization by HSE is extremely frustrating - we've constantly not enough doctors/nurses/consultants ...

Iwantone

splinter65 wrote: »

Like anyone else who has a service to sell, a consultant can charge whatever he or she likes, and people who wish to purchase the service can buy it or take their business elsewhere. me.

& to elaborate on this, people can pay €375 and then whatever punitive fee on follow ups or wait 5 years. This is not choice.

The consultant does not pocket it all mind you.

That money is to run a practice, pay rates, secretaries' salaries, medical & public liability insurance, etc.