Private treatment - surprise bill

[foxyferret]

My mum aged 85 got fed up of waiting for her gp to find out what was wrong with her, so decided to pay privately for a consultation. £208.00. She has been depressed lately and even though she could not really afford it, went ahead in the hope of getting a proper diagnosis. The consultant said she needed to go for another scan (she has had 2 already) and made an appointment at the hospital for her. Today, she has phoned me in a right state as she has had a bill for £364.00 for the radiologist and £404.82 for the scan, total £867.84. She was very upset, almost in tears, as at no time during the consultation did he say she would have to pay for this treatment. I think she should have been told clearly so that she understood that if he sent her to hospital, that treatment would have to be paid for. Surely she should have been given the choice of paying for the scan or waiting and taking her turn on the NHS waiting list? I am going to help her out with this bill. She is supposed to go back on 24th Oct to find out the results. I told her to check if she keeps that appointment, will that be another bill? If so, could she ask the consultant to send the results through to her GP and she will see him instead?

[Old_Geezer]

You say tt was a private consultation, that your mum had decided to pay privately. Wouldn't it be clear that anything discussed or done would then have a cost ? Admittedly it would be nice to have be told the exact cost in advance. But did anyone ask ? I feel sorry for anyone who has such a shock but I'd have thought it should have been anticipated. Best of luck arguing your case though.

[Old_Geezer]

I can only guess but I'd expect that as she has paid for the scans the results should be hers to have passed over to whomever she wanted.

[emmie]

Whilst i wouldn't want to heap more problems onto an already fraught situation, all private medical treatment has to be paid for, not just a consultation, but any scans, blood tests, you name it. You or she should ask the consultant exactly what is covered, or not, as sadly this doesn't come as a surprise, the fees can be extortionate. Having gone that route myself once, can safely say that i was glad i had medical insurance at that time. The consultant should have been clear about what costs your mother would incur, but he might have assumed that your mum would have realised this.

[Sqad]

If you go to see a Consultant privately that is exactly what it is ...PRIVATE.....nothing to do with the NHS.

Now. I feel that the Consultant should have made it clear to you about the MRI scan.....private or wait for the NHS scan.....that is poor communication from the Consultant.

Once you have gone private and had the scan done privately (to avoid waiting) then you will have to pay for the use of the scanner (which will go to the NHS) and the Radiologist who will want his "cut"

If you see the Consultant again for the results it will depend upon the Consultant if he charges you a fee..............I wouldn't.
You can fet the results from your GP.

[foxyferret]

Thanks old geezer. Perhaps my mum was naive in thinking that only the consultation was private because that is what she requested. I do think, however, remembering that the consultant has to deal with all kinds of people, perhaps he should have said something like "you need a scan, but if I refer you, it will cost X amount or you can go back to your gp and wait".

[emmie]

FF, he should have, but having seen what they do charge, would say better to stick with NHS where possible

[Dee Sa]

if your mother went for a private consultation then the consultant would be right in thinking that she knew any follow up would also have been paid for too.
What she should have done was told said consultant it was a one off visit and any further tests would have to be on the NHS , by not saying this he has concluded she has the means to pay and yes they will charge her another consultation fee when she goes for the results.
May I suggest that you telephone the consultant's private secretary and explain the situation to her and ask for advice as to whether going for the results will be charged or not then you will be clear, but the scans already done in the private sector will have to be paid, didnt any family member go with her ?

[boxtops]

I would hope that the follow-up consultation is included in the fee, but it may well not be. I'm sorry that your mum's found herself in this situation - but if the consultant didn't realise (and didn't ask) that a private follow-up couldn't be afforded, it's not entirely his fault.
Didn't a family member go with her, considering her age?

[overthetop]

Agree with Dee Sa. Call the consultant's secretary and nicely explain the situation, without recriminations. The consultant may be generous and waive the second visit fee in view of your mother's circumstance.

[hc4361]

If she wanted NHS treatment she would have to pay the consultant to write to the GP outlining the treatment he thinks she should have.

The GP would then simply refer he to an NHS consultant with a copy of the private consultant's report so she would have been no better off.


Most people would be outraged at the idea of queue jumping the NHS system simply by paying a relatively small fee to a private consultant. Your mother has been naive but that is not the fault of the private consultant.

[China Doll]

She will still have to pay for the results to be sent to the GP most likely. It's not the consultants fault and it's not really a suprise bill either, she went for a private consultation which by definition any treatment offered will be private. And there should have been no NHS option as if she needed a scan or any treatment following her consultation that she wanted done on the NHS then she would have had to go back to the GP and asked them to refer her, it should not be offered by the private consultant.

I think perhaps if she does go for the follow up, it might be better for a member of the family to go with her to ensure that everyone know exactly what's what so your mum can make an informed decision.

[jno]

like OG, I would have thought the results are hers to do what she wants with. Better take them to her GP herself rather than pay him to send them.

Follow-up appointments are likely to be charged too, but you could phone up and check.

[bednobs]

hiya foxy. Like the others i think there is fault on both sides here. Your mum was extremely naive not to realise that follow up treatment would have to be paid for (especially if it happened quickly) and she was incredibly naive not to ask how much the scan would cost, or to realise it was private treatment if she didn't have to wait.
However, it seems to me that the consultant could have told her how much it costs too, or at least indicated he was sending her privaetly. When we are ill, we are not often thinking at our best.
i think a call to the secretary will pin down any further costs and what will happen if she dosen't want to see this consultant again

[foxyferret]

Thank you all for your answers. Unfortunately, myself and two sisters all live miles away from mum, (great yarmouth) st ives cornwall, wales and me in cambridge. As I am the closest, I try to go as often as possible, I went with her for all her previous appointments but could not make the private one she had. I have advised her to phone up to see if the results appointment will also be chargeable. hc4361, the only reason she went privately was because after numerous tests, scans etc the gp was still unable to say what was wrong with her. Her first gp appointment was about 8 months ago and it was really getting her down. She is nursing my father aged 91 who is severely disabled and has prostate cancer. It was not a case of trying to "jump the queue", she thought she may have something which would get rapidly worse and wanted to nip it in the bud. She was worried that if anything happened to her my dad would have to go into a home and she felt very stressed. They are not wealthy people, as I have said, I am helping her with this bill. £208.00 is a relatively small fee to some people but it depends on your situation.