I was surprised to get this bill

[jenniferjean]

Back in August I wrote on here about our solicitor requiring a letter from a doctor to confirm my husband was able to sign and could understand what he was signing, regarding the sale of our house. I contacted the memory clinic but they said the solicitor needed to write to them and request this and why, as they hadn't thought this necessary.

There was a delay, not sure if caused by memory clinic or by solicitor, but eventually I had a call from the consultant to arrange a day for him to come and see my husband. He came and I told him I was surprised that he came to us and was expecting for us to attend the clinic. But he said he had to come to the house.

I've just received a bill from the consultant for this, £100.

 

[jenniferpa]

I'm afraid paying for this sort of thing is absolutely standard, although best practice would have been for you to have been told in advance. Since this isn't one of the things doctors have to do under their contract with the NHS, I also understand why the consultant had to make a visit, so that the contact wasn't taking place in an NHS funded facility.

 

[Tin]

There was a time when I thought I would have to do this, collect signatures/letters from medical professionals regarding my Mother's Dementia. So I asked her consultant how this would work and he told me that there would be a charge and maybe a home visit.

 

[canary]

Some doctors will refuse to do this anyway

 

[jenniferjean]

Thank you for your replies. If I had been told about the cost before, it wouldn't have come as such a shock. But I would still have had to have it. I'm just wondering if I'm going to get a copy of it.

 

[Sammie234]

Back in August I wrote on here about our solicitor requiring a letter from a doctor to confirm my husband was able to sign and could understand what he was signing, regarding the sale of our house. I contacted the memory clinic but they said the solicitor needed to write to them and request this and why, as they hadn't thought this necessary.

There was a delay, not sure if caused by memory clinic or by solicitor, but eventually I had a call from the consultant to arrange a day for him to come and see my husband. He came and I told him I was surprised that he came to us and was expecting for us to attend the clinic. But he said he had to come to the house.

I've just received a bill from the consultant for this, £100.

Hi Jenniferjean,

What a shock to receive that, have you got a POA if you had you wouldn't have needed the consultant to come round or so I would have thought.

 

[SnowWhite]

It IS a shock and I think people should be told in advance what to expect.

Last year Mums GP went to her care home to assess her capacity as she wanted to alter her will.

He told me on the phone there would be a small charge and I said that was fine, imagining it would be about £50. The Care home is about 4 miles from the surgery.

Imagine my horror when I got a bill for £255!!!! I was straight on to them saying that was outrageous and I should have been warned otherwise I would have taken her to his surgery to save some money. They wrote back saying they said they considered it reasonable and that he had in fact been out twice to see her. I wrote and said my Mum was on Pension credit as she had hardly any money coming in and That was a huge amount of money to her. I also said I did not ask him to go twice so I wouldn't be paying that amount but would pay a lesser amount if necessary. I never heard from them again and never received another bill, so I paid nothing.

 

[scattysue]

well done for fighting the size of the bill