AIBU - being charged whopping amount for missing appointment.

[NasiGoreng]

I've messed up and messed a private appointment with a GP this morning for my DC. It is not a major health issue, just something that needed doing for my DC. With all the rush back to school I totally forgot about it. It was one of those appointments made about 6 weeks ago due to availability.

Anyway, I just had a call from the hospital to tell me they will be charging me the full amount for missing the appointment. I kind of get this, but why the whole amount? Also, just looked at all the T&C's and it doesn't mention charging for no shows.

I know I am in the wrong, but to be charged the full amount? AIBU. It is a whopping 200 pounds!

You won’t get a refund on a flight you miss but you can claim on insurance. But then if the airline service is poor you have systems to get a refund.
You miss an appointment at the doctors and how can you say if the £200 treatment was worth it or not? If they did a poor job you could complain and expect refunds or compensation. The fact is they haven’t done a thing. So of course you should pay for a costs and a percentage of time but not for a service they didn’t provide.
I hope everyone on here would pay say, a kitchen fitter the cost of installing the whole kitchen if they forgot they were supposed to be in, rather than a payment of their time wasted.

You won’t get a refund on a flight you miss but you can claim on insurance.

Most insurers wont pay out if you miss a flight based on your own actions and no mitigating circumstances. "I slept in and missed my flight" usually isn't covered by insurance ...

£200 is an awful lot for a GP appointment - how long was the appointment for. I think £100 is reasonable assuming 10-15 mins

But if you didn't cancel then, yes you should pay.

You're not really enabling privatisation as all GP's are already private.

On topic, it's unfortunate you forgot but as a no show I don't see any way not to pay for the appointment.

I can't see any reason why you shouldn't pay; you have booked somebody's time , expertise and facilities and not bothered to go. Either it is important or it isn't.
Charging no shows in NHS general practice is superficially attractive but most people who use the NHS are children and the elderly or people with chronic diseases , many of whom are consequently on benefits. There would be considerable administration for minimal returns presuming these groups are exempt . As well, imposing charges or the threat of it , might prevent vulnerable patients from making appointments and seeking help when they need to. A lot of no shows are due to chaos in the patient's life.
As far as warts are concerned; they are viral and eventually resolve. Making them smaller with Bazuka or cryotherapy can help. Your GP hasn't been unhelpful, they have seen you several times and attempted cryotherapy to help. It hasn't so, quite rightly , they have stopped using their resources and a painful treatment on your child. You are sounding very unreasonable to me .

My dentist who does both NHS and private work sends a text 48 hours before the appointment to all patients reminding them of their appointment.

At £200 I'd expect the private hospital to subscribe to such a service.

No way would I pay for a missed appt if it wasn't in their T&C - they are a business and should conduct themselves in a professional manner.

A private GP next to my house charges £25 for 15 mins appointment, one in the City of London next to the office - £65 for a consultation and prescription. £200 seem totally out of line, unless it was for the appointment AND the wart removal.

So of course you should pay for a costs and a percentage of time but not for a service they didn’t provide.

They did provide the service - an appointment. The fact that the OP forgot to turn up isn't their problem. I'd like to see a travel insurance policy pay out because you forgot to turn up for a flight.

I second the pp recommendation of thuja for warts. Both my daughters had warts all over their hands, and knees. Tried everything through the GP and nothing worked. After a bit of googling I found out about thuja, tried it - after a while they just miraculously disappeared - 'miraculously' because they disappeared from both daughters at exactly the same time weird coincidence, but yeah, it definitely works.

A genuine question. If the NHS/GPs/dermatologist/hospitals aren't funded to remove warts, how does one go about getting one removed? Are they truly not thought of as 'viruses' which need to be got rid of? Especially if the patient can't bend their finger any more so it is debilitating. What is the solution?

It doesn't matter if the appointment cost was £5 or £500 you missed it and they had no opportunity to fill it so you need to pay for it.

The fact it is over £200 is also on you as nobody forced you to choose somewhere which was so expensive.

PP who mentioned claiming on insurance for forgetting a flight definitely needs to read the small print next time they take out a policy!

Bloody hell. You chose it. You booked it. You forgot it.

And now you are moaning?

If you book someones time and don't cancel (which would have allowed someone else to book their time) then of course you sodding well have to pay them!

The fact is they haven’t done a thing. So of course you should pay for a costs and a percentage of time but not for a service they didn’t provide.

They did provide a service. There was a room available and a doctor in that room during the time of that appointment who was qualified to provide you with advice. The fact you didn't manage to get yourself to that room to make use of the service isn't the fault of the GP practise.

Similarly if the airline had a seat on a flight available to you the fat you weren't sitting on seat when the plane takes off doesn't entitle you to a refund. Even if you had paid extra for insurance they don't usually pay you back for forgetting to go.

Marmablade it isn't really that they aren't funded as much as known treatments are fairly ineffective and they go once the body itself mounts some resistance to the wart. Even then , they tend to pop up somewhere else. Warts are a nuisance if they appear in a difficult place eg nail fold and can be painful if on the sole of the foot ( verrucca) but they do eventually disappear in most cases. No need to treat; almost all of us have the virus so worrying about contagion is not relevant.in most cases ; treatment is worse than having the wart ; after all their chief symptom is usually nothing more than being unsightly. I agree , that occasionally , they are in an awkward spot which might mean one wants at least to make them smaller.

It is likely the Dr. will be paid by the number of hours of work he has done that day - i.e. the number of appointments completed. I know when my DD went private her consultant came to the clinic after having done his NHS work. The reception was like a building management fee that he paid for being associated with the clinic, for use of the room and for them referring him. He then got paid by me for the appointment hour that we had. If he had 5 appointments he'd pay his standard daily fee to the clinic and pocket whatever was left over. Same if he had 10 appointments but with more left over! If you book but don't show he can't book someone else in so it comes directly off his earnings. No idea why that should be ok - he is there ready to see you ......

If the NHS/GPs/dermatologist/hospitals aren't funded to remove warts, how does one go about getting one removed?

Generally, you don't. They almost always go away with your immune system, but it can take years. In most cases they are annoying/ unsightly, but otherwise not a problem.

The various treatments take time to work - if they do anything, sometimes treatments work in one person but not another - so if the NHS is treating them, it can cost a lot and use lots of appointments to get rid of a harmless wart a bit quicker than the body would naturally clear it. And the treatments can be painful and cause a scar. So many CCGs don't fund treatments for viral warts.

However this is difficult for the minority of people who have persistent warts in awkward places that limit function/ are very painful, or who have very large numbers of warts. Treatment isn't funded for them either. If a truly exceptional case, there is the option to apply for NHS exceptional funding, but the bar will be high as the treatments still have limited effectiveness (eg a wart removed surgically can recur, and the patient has had the risks of surgery).

Surely if your GP doesn't think there is a problem and you can't be arsed to turn up for your private appointment then there can't be much wrong can there?

I think most people worried enough to research and make a private appointment would have it logged in a diary, written on a calendar andprimed to ping on a phone. To say you "totally forgot" is very lame. Expensive lesson, but pay up, you wasted their time.

However I think that from now on I am going to be a bit more forceful with my local GP surgery over a few matters.

I’m sure they’re quaking in their boots.

Jeezz!! that is steep where was this some exclusive place in Harley street?

That text reminder serivice is an excellent idea really is but you'd think they'd put on an appointment letter that cancellations or missed appoiments will attract a fee rip off of 200 sheets seems very unreasonable to me!..

I live in abject fear of missing an appointment with my private specialist for this reason. But to be fair they know it's an issue and they email twice in the lead up and then text the day before so that you are well warned. If there's nothing in the contract I think I'd try not paying and then not go back. I refused to pay for a missed massage at a beauty salon (I called to cancel because my child was sent home from school vomiting) - they wanted me to pay £60.

Yesterday 14:08 NasiGoreng

Cloud, if it was some local charity or local business I'd pay like a shot. Paying 200 quid, actually it's 215 pounds to have a wart looked at is a complete piss take.

Then why book the appointment in the first place?!

If there is nothing in the small print I wouldn't pay it, no chance.

If it's not in your Terms and Conditions you have haggle room,it is a large amount but I guess if you go private that's part and parcel of it.

I think it's fair enough you should pay it.