Medical healthcare costs

jodielb90

I went to a private medical breast clinic to get a lump checked on 17th January 2022. This was due to being told it would be a much longer wait for the Nhs clinic (already waited 4 weeks on the 2 week referral). 

Had the consultation and an ultrasound, due to being 31 years old, and told it was likely benign which was wonderful news and to expect the invoice in the post. 

I’ve received the invoice today and I have been charged twice for the ultrasound. I only had one lump that I was getting looked at and I was never informed the price of the ultrasound was per breast. I was never asked about this and assumed that I would be just paying for an ultrasound at a price of £299. I’ve phoned up to query the invoice for x2 scans and been told it’s the price per breast. 

I’m obviously quite unhappy at this situation but do I have a leg to stand on? Obviously I’ve already had the services albeit I didn’t agree to it. I can even recall the radiographer making a joke about doing the other one whilst I was there.  Any advice is more than welcome. 

Aylesbury_Duck

Any paperwork or emails prior to the scans themselves?  If so, what do they say?

jodielb90

Aylesbury_Duck said:

Any paperwork or emails prior to the scans themselves?  If so, what do they say?

Sadly no it was all booked over the phone. I never received any paperwork in relation to the booking. I didn’t get any paperwork whilst there either. 

Sandtree

What do you have in way of price lists, estimates, indicative costings? Were you ever given an estimated total cost or just constituent parts that you added up in your head to get to a total based on assumptions?

jodielb90

Sandtree said:

What do you have in way of price lists, estimates, indicative costings? Were you ever given an estimated total cost or just constituent parts that you added up in your head to get to a total based on assumptions?

I was just told on the phone that it would be £150 for consultation and £299 for an ultrasound. She also gave a price for a mammogram which I think was around £269 but I knew I wouldn’t have one of those. 

Aylesbury_Duck

In the absence of any paperwork, it's going to come down to a discussion with them.  I'd contact them in writing (email will suffice) to say that you weren't provided with clear pricing for the service you received, and that you're happy to pay the £150 and £299.  They will then have to decide whether they want to accept that, suggest a negotiated sum, or hold their ground and pursue you for the full charge they think is due.  If they hold their ground, come back for advice, but ultimately if they take it to small claims court to recover the extra £269, the fact they didn't provide any clear information on pricing is unlikely to help their case.

Sandtree

jodielb90 said:

Sandtree said:

What do you have in way of price lists, estimates, indicative costings? Were you ever given an estimated total cost or just constituent parts that you added up in your head to get to a total based on assumptions?

I was just told on the phone that it would be £150 for consultation and £299 for an ultrasound. She also gave a price for a mammogram which I think was around £269 but I knew I wouldn’t have one of those. 

The devil is in the detail and problem with phonecalls is people can walk away with very different impressions of what was said.

Ultimately it is for them to chase you and so you could sit back and pay what you think you owe and see how far they are willing to go for the shortfall.

If you wanted to be more proactive you could do a DSAR request and explicitly reference the telephone call in question to see if they have a recording of it and if so to relisten to it to see with hindsight if you potentially miss understood (eg "£299 per ultrasound" which could easily imply there may be more than one). Obviously if there is no recording it also points to a one persons word against another situation unless the contract says anything about pricing.

comeandgo

I think you should ask to hear the conversation again.  If it is as you state, and you were told it’s £299 for an ultrasound, to me that’s each ultrasound, she did not say it’s £299 for ultrasound, which would signify one or many.

born_again

So on the phone call did either you or they discuss the number of scans they would do?

It's just "I can even recall the radiographer making a joke about doing the other one whilst I was there." makes you wonder if you were only going to have one on the breast with the lump, but the radiographer did a good upsell, as you have may have said why not or yes?

jodielb90

Thank you all for your advice you’ve been very helpful  ☺️

I will try the email and see how I get on 🤞🏻🤞🏻

Sandtree

born_again said:

So on the phone call did either you or they discuss the number of scans they would do?

It's just "I can even recall the radiographer making a joke about doing the other one whilst I was there." makes you wonder if you were only going to have one on the breast with the lump, but the radiographer did a good upsell, as you have may have said why not or yes?

NHS - something needs to be almost falling off before they'll look at it
Private (and even more so in more litigious places like the USA) - they'll do whole body scans if they think they can in any way justify it

It would seem prudent if there is a query of an issue with an organ (are breasts technically organs?) of which you have two that both are checked. I know when I had a query kidney issue with pain only on one side even the NHS checked both