Was my GP being rude or am I just overreacting?

[Ozbarbie]

Hi all!!!

It's been bugging me for a couple of days. I went to my usual GP for a follow up appointment as I've have been quite ill over winter. We usually have a good rapport (or so I thought). There were a couple of issues to discuss which was listening to my chest, recurrent uti and a repeat script. I didn't think these were too major and a 15 minute appointment would be satisfactory.

Now this doctor is very popular and she mostly ALWAYS runs 20-30 mins late. It is a very expensive private clinic and is $90 for a consult in which I barely get back anything from Medicare here in Australia. I don't mind paying this money because she is an excellent doctor and it's worth the time and travel.

So I get called in my my appointment which was originally at 9.45am at 10.10am. We then start discussing my issues (she talks a lot and explains everything in detail). We discuss the first 2 and then I ask for a repeat script as I'm running out of medicine which I need. She then gets funny on me and asked me what the time was (it's now 10.25am) and then says she only has a 10 min consult and 5 mins to write up her clinical notes and now she will run late? I was a bit taken aback, I didn't think I was being demanding, I don't usually discuss more than issue at one given time and I'm quite aware of the surgery's policy on issues (no more than 3 to be discussed in a 15 min consult).

I apologised to her but I have felt quite cross afterwards because I felt it was a bit unfair and considering I'm paying good money for her time.

Was she just having an off day? I really can't work it out. It's taken me so long to find a good GP, I don't want to change to another again. I don't want to make a complaint (I don't have the time or energy).

Don't know if YABU or not as too hard to tell without the specifics of your issues and I don't want to know. If 2 very simple issues and a repeat I would think the Standard consult (Medicare rebate $37.05) would be okay. If the issues are anything other than simple and extremely straightforward then I would expect this to entail a Long consult (Medicare rebate $71.70). Some GP's in private practice use 10 min blocks for a Standard, others 15 min. So for some 15 min will be Standard, others Long and $180 (minus 71.70 rebate) would be standard for 15 min in this case but this should be transparent in a fee schedule.

The rest of your posts are generally odd, incorrect and frankly insulting to the healthcare system here. I'm a retired medico who worked in the public system for 30 years and still have plenty of friends and family who work in public, private and mixed. Not sure what part of healthcare you have been involved in for 20 years but it's worrying you have the information you do.

We have to pay for private health care in Australia, so a monthly fee for insurance plus we are out of pocket when we visit the GP, Specialists etc. We aren't lucky enough to have a system like the NHS.

Incorrect, less than 50% of people in Australia have private health care. It's a choice. I have worked in both systems and at present I would say we definitely have it better here and are indeed 'luckier'.

There is a public health system but waiting lists are long and there are bulk billed doctors (where you don't have to pay for the consult) but these are few and far between and quality of care is questionable.

If you have an issue that is an emergency you will not be made to wait an unreasonable amount of time in the public system. There are also many serious matters and complex needs that can only be dealt with in the public system, there are no private options so private healthcare is useless in this regard. I have a child (now not a child) that has many complex needs that can only be treated in the public system. When they have needed an MRI for example they have never had to wait more than a day or two and it’s the same day if they collapse. But if you have hurt your shoulder, it’s uncomfortable but you can mainly function albeit it’s a bit painful and definitely hampering your desire to get back to your weekly tennis game you will have to wait several months at least for an MRI if this is needed. If you want to get back to your tennis game earlier you can go private.
I see an excellent GP at a private practice but if they are booked or away I see another excellent GP at a bulk billing practice a few suburbs over as they are better than the other GP’s at the private practice. There are plenty of duds in private practice and plenty of excellent GP’s in bulk billing practices. Some bulk billing practices have the downfall of lack of continuity of care as you see someone different each visit but at others you can make an appointment with the GP of choice.

There are no bulk billed doctors in my area, so that means travelling to other suburbs to see one.

In your OP you say you like your current GP and they are well worth the travel so why is this fine but travelling to a bulk-bill not?

Yes we have to pay for everything here. We are bit like America but not as bad, where our medical insurance isn't quite as extortionate but still very expensive!

Words fail me with this gem.

Yes I know what you're saying, but it's better for us to have private health instead of paying a huge medicare levy.

This only works if you don’t use your PHI or use it with providers who have no gap agreements which is very hit and miss. If you add up all of your out of pockets going private for most surgeries (unless no gap) you will find you are not making a saving in this regard. These days the gaps can be huge so you are probably paying out more than you are saving on the Levy Surcharge. I have PHI but I don’t delude myself in this regard.

Couldn't be bothered copying it but your text regarding the lack of choice re Dr in the public system is also misinformation. If you are prepared to enact your PHI in the public system you can have your Dr of choice. Doesn't work in emergency situations obviously as they may be off, feet up with a wine or 2 or 10 watching TV but in non-emergency situations you would have that choice. Most people don't know but public hospitals will also waive the PHI excess if you choose to enact your PHI. They will try and charge it as standard but if you say waive it or I won't use it they waive it as it's still come out in front with the money they claim from your PHI.

HoppingPavlova...

As I said I'm not interested in the public vs private. Please keep your snarky comments to yourself.

HoppingPavlova...

My explanation of the private health system was explained in layman's terms for the UK folk who might have no idea what I am talking about. You obviously spendtoo much time thinking about the public health system and why you seem to think it's better. It's projecting an us vs them mentality. I really don't care to be scrutinised or be hounded with your political and aggressive views on the subject. I don't think a Mumsnet topic really calls for that level of response. Just wow.

Hoppingpavlova...

I actually work in the dental health system. No free public service for that is there? Oh wait yes a reduction in fees if you're a low income earner but that's about it.
So I like to use my PHI for stuff like dental than can be very expensive. Thanks!

None of that was snarky and I am definitely not interested in a public vs private debate. That's not what my posts were about, they were correcting gross misinformation you were sprouting.

I certainly don't spend all my time thinking about the public system. God knows after working in it for 30 odd years I never want to think about it again.

As I said I have PHI, I use it where appropriate including dental, for which I am still a shitload out of pocket and if mainly using PHI for that and optical would be cheaper to self-fund. I worked in the public system in A&E yet half of my own surgeries have been in the private system and the other half public where private was not an option. Surgeries for one of my kids have mainly been in the private system with one exception where public was better placed than private for that matter even though it could have been done privately. Surgeries for another of my kids has always been in the public system, they have absolutely no private option for their issues. It's not a private vs public debate as you keep sprouting to anyone who corrects your misinformation, they are different systems that are geared for different things and each has their place.

@Ozbarbie This is not a debate about public vs private?? Geez.

Are you sure this response is actually directed at me?

I am certainly not making it a debate about public vs private. I have always have private health insurance, but I don't think I said anything about the use of private health coverage except to mention how little difference it made to me during my recent stay in a public hospital. I am merely giving my experiences of cost and services provided through the public health system through the use of Medicare. My experiences - sadly quite extensive over the last decade - seem to be vastly different, especially the cost, to yours.

But considering I have lived in Australia all my life, thanks for the advice.

So have I, except for stints working overseas and travelling. And, yet, our experiences of the public health system seem enormously different, so different that I could believe that we are talking about completely different systems. Oh, and by the way, when you live in a country, you don't just absorb all the information about it through something like osmosis.

I also never claimed to not have a choice. Of course I have choice. I can choose to see a bulk billed doctor or not. There are no bulk billed doctors in my area, so that means travelling to other suburbs to see one. You said in your original post she is an excellent doctor and it's worth the time and travel. Hmmm? Contradictory?

Of course you can choose to pay whatever you like to see whomever you want, but don't claim that it is necessary to do so.

@Ozbarbie: Is "snarky" the word of the day?

Yes we have to pay for everything here. We are bit like America but not as bad, where our medical insurance isn't quite as extortionate but still very expensive!

No, we don't have to pay for everything here, and our health care system is almost nothing like America's. Why would you say that?

It sounds like she was rude, though, and I would be annoyed with her behaviour too.

The whole thing is just not difficult and is easily addressed, it was the throwing the arms in the air and adding in all sorts of odd that has complicated it.

If the GP works in private practice and they have a fee schedule that says they will allow up to 15 mins for a Standard consult (which would cost OP $52.95 after the pretty much immediate refund) then she is entitled to 15 mins.

It's too hard to say though as she was the only one there. If she was at 13 mins and asked for the script repeat it may be getting iffy and a Long consult should have been booked as they need to ask you anything they feel relevant, print it and add this to the consult notes. Thinking it's a case of something that can just be popped off the printer in a minute because you have asked is a bit naive. If she was at 10 mins then the GP was definitely unreasonable.

If OP felt too much time is taken up with the GP talking and it adds nothing and she is being charged for 'no service' in this regard then find another GP whether that be private or bulk-billed. Easily solved.

Again, if the OP does not like the fee structure of the GP and enforcement of time limits, find another GP. Easily solved. If the OP is usually happy but this was a one off odd day/experience then toss up whether it's worthwhile searching around for another GP. It's all a choice, nothing is forced on anyone.