barrym
19-03-2011, 11:04 AM
Hi,
This is not a rant against private medicine, but a question about how long we can support a system which charges so much.
The background - a close relative spent 6.5 hours in the Bon Secours hospital in Cork yesterday for a procedure to remove wisdom teeth. His dental consultants office phoned him during the week to ask him to ensure his VHI cover included the bed.... It did and he discovered he would have to pay an excess of €125. He then asked how much was the bed and he was told it was €900!!!
He did some sums while he was there. There were 5 beds in the day procedure ward, and three such wards. He calculated that the hospital collected 900x15 = 13,500 for the day; 67,500 for a 5 day week, for the rooms. Ok, he calculated, there was nursing staff, etc., and some 'contribution' towards the operating theatre included.
When he was wheeled in to the theatre there was the surgeon and an anaesthetist and three nursing staff. He assumes the price was of the order of €250 a tooth, plus the anaestetic fees? He calculated that the 15 patients (all the 15 beds were full and the three wards were dedicated to the dental work) would be charged maybe €1000 for the procedures i.e. 15x1000 = 15,000 for the day €75,000 a 5 day week. This to cover the operating theatre etc., as well.
So, the overall charges for patients at the dental unit at the Bons is of the order of €140,000 a week. Times (say) 45 weeks a year, = about €6.4m.
By any calculation this has to be outrageous. How can we continue to support a system of this nature??
BTW, he did notice that there was no automation applied, all the questions and answers were noted down on a piece of paper.... several times.
Of course he probably won't see the bill that the VHI will pay, so his assumptions could be wrong, but not by much if the bed charge is €900 (for a 6 hour occupancy, no night duty, etc.)
As I said, how long can this go on, and what is the role of the VHI et al in the situation. BTW, in a place like the Bons, where does the money go??
B
This is not a rant against private medicine, but a question about how long we can support a system which charges so much.
The background - a close relative spent 6.5 hours in the Bon Secours hospital in Cork yesterday for a procedure to remove wisdom teeth. His dental consultants office phoned him during the week to ask him to ensure his VHI cover included the bed.... It did and he discovered he would have to pay an excess of €125. He then asked how much was the bed and he was told it was €900!!!
He did some sums while he was there. There were 5 beds in the day procedure ward, and three such wards. He calculated that the hospital collected 900x15 = 13,500 for the day; 67,500 for a 5 day week, for the rooms. Ok, he calculated, there was nursing staff, etc., and some 'contribution' towards the operating theatre included.
When he was wheeled in to the theatre there was the surgeon and an anaesthetist and three nursing staff. He assumes the price was of the order of €250 a tooth, plus the anaestetic fees? He calculated that the 15 patients (all the 15 beds were full and the three wards were dedicated to the dental work) would be charged maybe €1000 for the procedures i.e. 15x1000 = 15,000 for the day €75,000 a 5 day week. This to cover the operating theatre etc., as well.
So, the overall charges for patients at the dental unit at the Bons is of the order of €140,000 a week. Times (say) 45 weeks a year, = about €6.4m.
By any calculation this has to be outrageous. How can we continue to support a system of this nature??
BTW, he did notice that there was no automation applied, all the questions and answers were noted down on a piece of paper.... several times.
Of course he probably won't see the bill that the VHI will pay, so his assumptions could be wrong, but not by much if the bed charge is €900 (for a 6 hour occupancy, no night duty, etc.)
As I said, how long can this go on, and what is the role of the VHI et al in the situation. BTW, in a place like the Bons, where does the money go??
B