Fees & Charges Test Results Sick Notes & Social Welfare Certificates	Interruptions Antibiotic Use
.

Fee & Charges at Oakwood Medical Clinic We have a full list of fees available at reception – please ask for details; Please find the charges for the most common consultations listed below: General Consultation:                                             55 euros General Consultation with bloods:                       75 euros Blood test Consultation:                                         40 euros Student Charge (with valid student ID card):       45 euros Driver’s Licence Medical:                                       70 euros                            Fees for consultation with the nurse vary depending on the service being provided. Please enquire at reception. There will be charges for longer consultations or additional services provided by the clinic.

Services Provided to Medical Card Holders

The GMS medical card entitles current holders to a wide range of medical services from their nominated GP. These services are provided to the medical card holder free of charge and include standard consultations for treatment of illnesses and related services necessary for the treatment of a wide range of medical conditions. Full medical card and ‘Doctor Only’ medical card holders are entitled to the same services free of charge within the clinic.

Services Not Covered by Medical Card Entitlements

There are, however, some services which your GP may be able to provide, but which are not covered by Medical card entitlements. When GPs are asked to provides additional services, which fall outside their contract with the HSE, they are entitled to make a reasonable charge for providing them. Charges are made in line with the Irish Medical Organisation’s recommended fees.

Forms or Applications may appear deceptively simple, but need a full examination for their completion. When a doctor signs a certificate or completes a report, the doctor needs to check the patient’s entire medical record to ensure that they are providing accurate information. GPs will not be able to complete forms overnight, so please ensure that you give them reasonable notice. Not all documents need a signature by a GP. For example, you could ask another person (Consultant, Garda, Teacher, Solicitor, etc), who may be willing to sign a form free of charge.
Examples of non-GMS services for which GPs charge their medical card patients are:

• Signing passport application forms
• Certain travel vaccinations and other prescriptions for travel
• Examinations in relation to fitness to drive, including eye test
• Examinations in connection with fitness to take part in sports
• Pre – employment medicals
• Insurance & Medico-legal Examinations and Reports
• Insurance Claim form-filling and reports
• Some family planning services
• Referral for private care forms
• Letters requested by, or on behalf of, the patient

These examples are not exhaustive – All services not covered by medical card entitlements, including certificates, examinations, and private prescriptions or reports are charged for. Medical Card patients requesting any of these services are responsible for the relevant fees.

Medical Expenses

If you have accumulated receipts for GP visits, blood tests, specialist visits, x-rays or ultrasounds and prescriptions, there are a number of ways you can claim some of these costs back.

If you are paying tax, it is possible to claim a portion of these costs against your personal taxes at the end of the year. Information on how you can claim back a significant percentage of medical expenses against tax may be found from this link. Complete a MED 1 form which you can down load here – www.revenue.ie/forms/med1.pdf and send it back to your local Revenue office. Alternatively you can call the Revenue on 1890 333 425 and they will send a copy of the form out in the post to you.

If you have private health insurance, depending on the plan you have, it may be possible to claim back a portion of private health insurance expenses. If you have private health insurance, please contact your insurance company for more information [intlink id=”11″ type=”page”](Useful Links Section)[/intlink].
Please note that receipts are issued at the time of consultation only.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

Test Results You may have blood tests or other laboratory samples taken at this clinic. These will be sent to the Hospital Laboratory at approximately 11.00am each day. Non-urgent samples may be stored overnight if taken after the collection for that day. Patients may also be referred to a hospital for further investigation (e.g. x-ray) on occasion. We add all patient test results to your computerised medical record immediately upon their receipt in the clinic. We endeavour to contact patients with their blood test results within 10 days of their test being carried out. If you have not been contacted by us within 10 days you are advised to contact the clinic. The clinic has a strict policy regarding confidentiality; we will only release test results to the patient to whom they relate unless the patient has given prior permission for the release of their data, or they are not capable of understanding the results. We do ask your consent for the clinic to contact you; by phone / text message / or letter; this may be to inform you that test results are normal or to contact the clinic for more information. Our administrative staff may be instructed to pass test results, or advice, onto patients once they have been reviewed by a doctor. They are not authorised to give results that are outside the normal range. You will be asked to discuss these with a doctor or nurse; it is better to discuss an abnormal result in person. Very often, results outside the normal range are insignificant and not dangerous; patients asked to discuss abnormal results with a doctor or nurse shouldn’t worry unduly.

Sometimes results get lost or delayed – so please follow up with us and clarify the situation if your results have not arrived. It is your responsibility to check your results and to make an appointment for a follow-up consultation to discuss them, with a doctor or nurse; if you are advised to do so.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

Medical Certification Sick Note & Social Welfare Certificate Requests Sick/Work Notes Patients requiring a sick note for work must attend in person, to be examined by a doctor, in the first instance. If the request is for a continuance, then please contact Reception and leave a message for the doctor. They may call you back for more details, or request you attend the clinic for a review, prior to the issue of a further note. Sick/Work notes are usually available for collection 24 hours after request.

Social Welfare Certification

Patients requiring a Social Welfare Certificate must be examined by one of our doctors; and/or provide correspondence from another doctor; to qualify for the first Social Welfare Certificate. You will be requested to provide your PPS number and exact dates for which the Social Welfare Certificate is requested. Patients must be absent from work for three or more days before receiving a Social Welfare Certificate. The first certificate (burgundy) covers a period up to one week absence from work. Patients absent from work for more than one week shall then receive a weekly certificate (yellow). When the patient is fit to return to work they will receive a final certificate (blue), after review by their Doctor. Social Welfare Certificates may be requested or collected between 11am – 1pm or 2pm-4pm, please contact Reception @ 01 8219530 at least 24 hours in advance. Social Welfare Certificates must be collected in person, on the day they fall due.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

Interruption Policy This policy deals with any interruptions during consultation times. During consultations it is NOT acceptable for telephone calls to be directed through to the Doctor,with only the following exceptions: Emergencies / Urgent Medical Problems which require a Doctor to be informed immediately. Calls from other Doctors, or the Hospital. Calls from Hospital / Laboratory regarding important test results. Calls from Pharmacists regarding essential patient medication.

For all other telephone calls a message will be taken by Administration staff, and conveyed to the Doctor at the next suitable opportunity. The Doctor will endeavour to respond to your message at their earliest convenient opportunity, but this may be at the end of their clinical session or indeed the following day.

It is stressed that when the Doctor is in consultation with a patient, they will NOT be disturbed, but a message may be left for them. Please ensure that the clinic has up-to-date patient contact details for you and that you are available for the Doctor to reply. This is important to not only to protect patient confidentiality, but also to facilitate improved efficiency during consultations.

This policy has been introduced as good practice going forward in line with other GP practices. If you have any queries relating to this policy please contact the Practice Manager.

In addition we would request that all mobile phones are switched off while in Oakwood Medical Clinic. This prevents interruption of either your or other patients’ consultations and protects privacy of your conversations while on the premises.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

‘GET BETTER WITHOUT USING ANTIBIOTICS’ Antibiotics are very important medicines. They help cure infections that are caused by bacteria. They are of NO benefit in treating viral illnesses. Inappropriate or incomplete use of antibiotics leads to antibiotic resistance. This is when an antibiotic stops working as an effective treatment; which means previously simple treatable infections become more serious, and may become life threatening. So it is extremely important that we use them appropriately. A doctor may prescribe an antibiotic for you. If you start an antibiotic course you must complete it. Never take an antibiotic unless a doctor has prescribed it for you. Do not be offended if a doctor advises you that an antibiotic is not necessary. Click on the following website Antibiotic use to obtain more information and advice for treating common illnesses, such as colds and coughs, without encouraging antibiotic resistance.