Our medical centre has just put up some of its fees ($63 a visit) and introduced "Note that appointments running over time will be charged at $20 per 5 minutes, including for community services card holders. A standard appointment only allows 10 minutes of consultation and 5 minutes for your clinician to make notes. Only one item can be addressed safely in a standard consultation." (NZ$)
What sort of charges do you experience where ever you are in the world?
@bananabob The big change I've experienced for medical care since COVID has been the increase in reliance on practice nurses. For my GP they now handle everything for which a doctor isn't mandatory. I approve of this change, and would be keen to see my GP add a Nurse Practitioner to the practice to take even more of the load.
@bananabob@leighelse definitely see far more interaction with nurses and pharmacists here in the UK now. The health service is still free but the decades of underfunding have taken a heavy toll. So although you don't pay you do have to jump through more hoops and often wait days to actually see a doctor. Even then it's quite like a phone consultation.
However, we here should all appreciate the wonder of it, even in its somewhat beleaguered state. I'm 65 and have still never paid for treatment.
But the receptionist does keep a number of slots available for the truly urgent. She decides who qualifies, and while I've benefited on occasion, at other times I've had to go to the After Hours Clinic.
@leighelse@bananabob Our local pharmacy is now much more than a pharmacy. They do blood pressure checks, blood sugar level testing, consultations and dispensing of over the counter meds for minor ailments. Inoculations.
Add comment