Vol. 514 No. 3
190 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Health and Children the mechanisms, if any, in place to monitor the amounts which doctors charge patients; if certain forms of treatment are charged at a standard rate; and the redress, if any, open to patients who feel they have been over-charged. [4005/00]
The matter of payment by the patient does not arise where a person is attending a general practitioner or consultant as a public patient. In regard to private consultations and services, my Department has no role or function in the setting or monitoring of private fees of general practitioners or consultants. Accordingly, they may fix their charges according to what they believe is reasonable either generally or with regard to the circumstances of individual patients. In all cases where the patient believes himself or herself to be overcharged for the service provided they should, in the first instance, query the matter with the doctor concerned and if they are unhappy with the explanation given they can ultimately go elsewhere. That consideration is likely to be a most important one for doctors in terms of deciding their fee structure.
