Hospital bill - WWYD

[Dk20]

Not an AIBU but want to know WWYD.

In Ireland, we've been allowed to have socially distanced garden visits if someone lives less than 5km from you.

Me and ds visited dsis and her ds. The kids were playing in the garden, they bumped into each other while running and my dsis ds fell and cut his head. He had to go to a&e which resulted in a hospital charge for them.

Dsis has said not to worry as accidents happen with children, but I feel like I should pay for at least half of the hospital bill. In my situation WWYD?

@clancey should I come there so we would all get seen quicker, or PPs come here so we don't have to pay?

@nowaitaminute

Also in regards to GP's appointments I can get them the same day if necessary and the receptionist don't ask what your appointment is for!! I found it extremely weird when I was in the U.K. and I had to explain every problem to the bloody receptionist beforehand!!!

Out of curiosity how are community nursing services paid for? A good bit of explaining stuff to receptionists is for signposting to appropriate services eg practice nurse for smears, treatment room for dressings, direct physio referral. (Altho I appreciate sometimes it feels quite unnecessary!)

So if you phoned the practice & booked in for a smear with the nurse, is it stilL €50?

Not 100% sure, but I think smear tests are free.

Here you go.

How much does it cost? Primacare offers free cervical screening to women aged 25 to 60. women under 25 years are not eligible for a free smear test .

I think there have been campaigns over the years to lower the age of free smear testing.
Ireland's record on smear testing is dreadful though due to a scandal where women were given false negatives resulting in several deaths in young women.

So that would probably be the same at other practices. Would you expect your smear to be done by your Gp or a nurse?

I’ve found the citizens information portal, although I’m struggling to find a fee list. It’s an interesting conversation, given the current discussions re future of NHS.

the usual English ignorance regarding Ireland?

ochon this is both rude & really unfair on the poster you're referring to.

Yes, waiting for an appointment and gatekeeper receptionists are PITA but paying between 50 and 60 euros to visit a GP, that would that would be a pain to my wallet. Paying for GP visits not only weeds out time wasters but also people who may not be able to afford it.

The NHS has its many issues but paying for GP visits, nah, that’s a boundary I hope we never cross. I live in The Netherlands and I didn’t realise that ambulance journeys are charged for. I found this out when my insurance company hounded me when DD was hit by a car and she was taken to A&E. Silly me, I didn’t think to ask for the insurance details of the driver of the car that hit her. Do not get me started on prescription charges and the bureaucracy in trying to claim those back.

Health systems cost money, a crap load of money and it really annoys me when people point to the NHS and compare apples and oranges.

Health systems cost money, a crap load of money and it really annoys me when people point to the NHS and compare apples and oranges.

Yes. I think a lot of people forget this.
OTOH, I also think it’s reasonable to Demand quality service for the money spent, and this should be open to scrutiny.

I never knew that about Ireland either, I don't know any Irish people and it's never come up in conversation. You only know if you know, right? I don't think anyone was being goady or having a dig at all.

*Out of curiosity how are community nursing services paid for? A good bit of explaining stuff to receptionists is for signposting to appropriate services eg practice nurse for smears, treatment room for dressings, direct physio referral. (Altho I appreciate sometimes it feels quite unnecessary!)

So if you phoned the practice & booked in for a smear with the nurse, is it stilL €50?*

Smear tests are free, it is my GP that conducts mine, not sure if it is nurses elsewhere.
In my experience, you pay €50 for a gp visit, €100 for an a&e visit, €75 per night for a hospital stay (,but there is a max amount you can pay for hospital stay per year), after that your treatment/referrals are free.
Sometimes you will need to be put on a waiting list. A few years ago a&e referred me to the physio (had an appt the following week) and the physio was free. My ds also saw the same physio team as part of his early intervention - his speech and language, ot and physio were all free, his referrals were put through by the health visitor.

I've also been through the public system for a tonsillectomy, which again was free (other than my gp visit) but had a long waiting list.
Maternity care and health visitor checks are all free.

To add to the criteria posted by PP above for those who are eligible for a medical card (free healthcare), there are a few other conditions for which they are given. Any child receiving domiciliary care allowance is entitled to one up to their 18th birthday - (any child who has passed the criteria for having more care needs than a child their age) - my ds has one under this scheme.
You can also apply on medical grounds. My dad has heart issues and is on lifelong medication and has been granted one, meaning his healthcare and prescriptions are free.
PP can correct me on this age but as far as I remember over 70s have them too?

@whocanibe2day

Nervousnelly8 - It was clear from the OP that she was in Ireland and that there is a charge in some cases. Your innocent post was off-topic and goady. Don't play the innocent with me. It was very much a Wow - isn't Britain so fucking great with its unusable 'free' service.

I didn't read it as goady at all.

(Now I'm worried that people will think I'm being goady.)

i wouldnt bother trying to defend a paid health system.
i'm nhs and get to see the doc easily, have always experienced good care.
i'd be happy to pay higher taxes to improve it and keep it free.
it's the only decent thing left in the uk

This has turned into an interesting discussion on comparative international health systems! And I'm going to defend a paid health system. (Now that the OP's issue has been positively dealt with.)

I live in Ireland now, but I lived in England for ten years; but mostly I lived in Germany where over the years I had both public health insurance and for a while also private hi.

The worst thing about the NHS I found was when you need to see a specialist. I remember once when living in the UK something happened to my knee. It just felt as if the joint was completely displaced and the lower leg was just wildly swinging!
It too months before I could get to see an orthopedic surgeon and by that time the knee had sorted itself out by itself. The specialist was located in the local hospital and I was just randomly allocated to one.
Much later after I'd moved to Ireland a similar thing -- hip problems, the GP (50€) referred me to the local hospital for an X-ray. It took about a month to be called in for an Xray. A sign at the hospital said I had to pay €100 and I was prepared to do so but I was never asked to pay, and didn't.

I've since got private health insurance in Ireland, AND a medical card.
The medical card is not because of low income. It's because I am retired in Ireland and I have (had!) German public health insurance which I was paying for. I've since been able to cancel the German health insurance as the monthly premium was too high. Public health insurance there is based on income. So I guess my medical card is now invalid, but they haven't said anything and I still have it.

So for me, it's the ability to see a specialist quickly, and one of my choice, that is important. When I was living in Germany I only had to make a telephone call and I got to see an orthotpedic surgeon with his own practice the very same day. He immediately sent me for an Xray and scan which I also got the same day as well as the results, then back to the original surgeon -- all same day.

And when I decided to have a hip replacement, I got an appointment at the specialist hospital of my choice within a few weeks. My German insurance covered the surgery and six days in hospital, plus three weeks at a rehab clinic at the Baltic Sea -- again, the rehab clinic was one of my choice. It was like a beach spa holiday with free physio built in!

Which is the reason why I have private insurance in Ireland now, which covers orthopedic surgery, just in case the other hip or my knees start acting up.

I much prefer to pay for insurance and get quick treatment, than a free service which takes ages, long waiting lists, and you can't even choose your doctor.

In Germany for instance when I needed a gynecologist I just had to look in the yellow pages for a female one with her own practice (there were several to choose from), and book an appointment. The gynecologist also did the smear tests herself, not a nurse. Everyone in Germany with public health insurance can do this. For people with low income the insurance is low or free.

I cancelled my German insurance because the Irish one is MUCH cheaper! The services are not as comprehensive in Ireland, though; for instance it does not cover dental. The German one does.

Yes, it's nice to have an all-free service (NHS), but you pay in other ways if you have non-emergency issues. In my case, I paid with pain, or would have, if I hadn't had insurance.

Can you imagine the noise from the lefties if we started charging for NHS services.

@AgentJohnson

Yes, waiting for an appointment and gatekeeper receptionists are PITA but paying between 50 and 60 euros to visit a GP, that would that would be a pain to my wallet. Paying for GP visits not only weeds out time wasters but also people who may not be able to afford it.

The NHS has its many issues but paying for GP visits, nah, that’s a boundary I hope we never cross. I live in The Netherlands and I didn’t realise that ambulance journeys are charged for. I found this out when my insurance company hounded me when DD was hit by a car and she was taken to A&E. Silly me, I didn’t think to ask for the insurance details of the driver of the car that hit her. Do not get me started on prescription charges and the bureaucracy in trying to claim those back.

Health systems cost money, a crap load of money and it really annoys me when people point to the NHS and compare apples and oranges.

Paying for GP visits not only weeds out time wasters but also people who may not be able to afford it. :

These people would have a medical card and it would be free.

I’d say as you have already offered and your DS has said no then I’d get him some sweets or something and leave it at that. 😊 Can’t believe that so many people are outraged that not everyone knows everything about every country. Some people love to be offended.

Mumsnet is a UK site. Some of the vitriol aimed at English posters on here is terrible.

unlike the NHS system if trying to get a GP appointment which freaks me out reading it here!

It varies a lot and I think the horror stories get more publicity and appear more on social media.

Where I live, the surgeries generally do a telephone consultation the day you ring them, and if they need to actually see you, that's almost always the same day as well. I've only once had to wait till the following day to actually see the doctor, and that was for something that wouldn't have actually mattered if I'd had to wait a month to see them.

The only person I know in RL who's spoken of problems getting appointments is a colleague who lives in a part of Brighton where 2 suregeries closed down and so all their patients had to get registered with the 2 that remained, so their caseload doubled. The area is also close to the hospital, which has a 24 hour walk-in service, so that's really not a big deal.

@Dk20

Not an AIBU but want to know WWYD.

In Ireland, we've been allowed to have socially distanced garden visits if someone lives less than 5km from you.

Me and ds visited dsis and her ds. The kids were playing in the garden, they bumped into each other while running and my dsis ds fell and cut his head. He had to go to a&e which resulted in a hospital charge for them.

Dsis has said not to worry as accidents happen with children, but I feel like I should pay for at least half of the hospital bill. In my situation WWYD?

How did they bump into each other during a socially distant visit?

@Gwenhwyfar

But similar to the rest of the world so you'd have to be quite dim to be confused really. Not that many countries have a system that is free at the point of use.

Surprised you say this. True that the NHS is quite a unique model, not true that the Irish model is 'similar to the rest of the world'

In my experience, systems in most countries are very different to Ireland, including countries, for example, with mandatory health insurance, which ultimately feels like 'free at the point of use'

Really not fair call others 'dim' if they don't understand a system.

It's the assumption of many English people that Ireland is either part of the UK or no different to the UK.

I honestly didn't see any incidences of this 🤷🏻‍♀️

I know it happens a lot & I equally find it maddening but I think it's equally unfair of Irish people (I'm one!) to take exception if anyone makes a reasonable observation or asks a question.

@nowaitaminute

Actually mine does some of the same. Not fully GP visits, I think it's €25 towards each visit to a set number a year.

I'm really bad at remembering what I can claim back, ridiculously.

I think it’s a lovely idea to offer to share the cost, but if she says no - then accept and let it go.

@Healthyandhappy though - WTF?

@whocanibe2day

Ireland's record on smear testing is dreadful though due to a scandal where women were given false negatives resulting in several deaths in young women.

That's not accurate!

Ireland's record on smear testing, overall, is excellent. Many women are beneficiaries of it.

There was indeed a scandal regarding the labs used for reading smears, and some high-profile, tragic cases, which rightly required a scoping inquiry leading to the Scally report
static.rasset.ie/documents/news/2018/09/scoping-inquiry-into-cervicalcheck-final-report.pdf

He found serious failings in the system, and these require addressing.

But it's not correct to say that every element of the system is dreadful.

Paying for GP visits not only weeds out time wasters but also people who may not be able to afford it

These people would have a medical card and it would be free.

This is NOT true. There are many people who don't qualify for a medical card, and really struggle to pay a GP charge. (I was briefly one of them, after my marriage ended, and it was awful)