Private GP - charged me when THEY ran over time

yallapilko

HI, I had an appointment today with a private GP which I was told would be £90 for 15 mins. The appointment ran to half an hour, and the GP billed me for £180.
Whose repsonsibility to keep to the 15 mins was it? Mine or hers? There was no clock in the room, so I could not keep check and was shocked to be billed £180.
It seems she does it often to patients (when I asked at reception). In fact it has happened once before to me, so I insisted on a 15 min appointment today.
My thoughts are that she should keep the appointment time correct. Am I wrong?
And yes, I was an idiot and paid (£160, when I compained she reduced the cost!!!).
I feel ripped off....

theonlywayisup

I had the misfortune of realising my son's private health insurance had lapsed from our family policy and when he required an appointment it was on a similar scale.

Unless you were told the appointment was going to take 15 minutes, you need to understand the appointment is based on time x cost.

Were you told the appointment would likely only last 15 minutes or did you assume that based on the costings provided?

Fosterdog

What was the reason for going over the allotted time? Was it the Dr making small talk and delaying things or did your medical needs require that much time? If the latter then how exactly would you have kept half an hour worth of medical advice/examination/discussion/testing to under 15 minutes? Surely that would have left you needing to book a further appointment to finish whatever was missed in this one.

pmduk

How would you have felt had she cut the consultation mid-way through because there was not enough time?

yallapilko

Thanks for your replies.
Yes, she was not straight or quick to the point.It was advice only and it could have been done in 15 mins in my opinion.
I have clients, and if I over run, I do not charge them. I take responsibility for my own time keeping and can imagine their faces if I billed them for the extra time.
But from the replies so far, you are all happy with the doctor not sticking to the 15 mins appointment time. That's OK. I would just like some kind of concensus as to what you would expect. If your child went for tutoring for example and the tutor ran over the one hour appointment and billed you for 1 1/2 hours would you be happy with that? Is it the same thing?

theonlywayisup

yallapilko wrote: »

Thanks for your replies.
Yes, she was not straight or quick to the point.It was advice only and it could have been done in 15 mins in my opinion.
I have clients, and if I over run, I do not charge them. I take responsibility for my own time keeping and can imagine their faces if I billed them for the extra time.
But from the replies so far, you are all happy with the doctor not sticking to the 15 mins appointment time. That's OK. I would just like some kind of concensus as to what you would expect. If your child went for tutoring for example and the tutor ran over the one hour appointment and billed you for 1 1/2 hours would you be happy with that? Is it the same thing?

Tutoring isn't something you can compare to. Tutoring is teaching. You went for a consultation. No one knows how much time was needed to ascertain and diagnose and hopefully remedy your issue.

yallapilko

OK, well thanks for all your replies.

mattyprice4004

It's a bit of a tricky one, but you can't put a price on your health - personally, I'd use that to make myself feel better about it and move on.

yallapilko

Yes Matty, thanks. I think it's the only way. Merry Christmas!

pmduk

yallapilko wrote: »

If your child went for tutoring for example and the tutor ran over the one hour appointment and billed you for 1 1/2 hours would you be happy with that? Is it the same thing?

If your child needed the extra time to grasp a subject, then, yes of course. Ultimately, if you're unhappy, find a new private GP.

[Deleted User]

pmduk wrote: »

Ultimately, if you're unhappy, find a new private GP.

...or join the queue for an NHS appointment (this is a money-saving site after all).;)