MEDICAL MEN’S FEES

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 493, 24 October 1928, Page 8

MEDICAL MEN’S FEES

NOT TOO HIGH, THEY AVER VIGOROUS DENTAL (Spt etai to TBB MCKJ •WT.T.LIXGTOX, Tuesfl^ Allocations the £_Ale of miy mum medical fees in oi'eration n Xew Zealand is too high are Tigj,. ously denied by members of the medi cal profession. It has been claimed that the Xe* Zealand branch of the 3ritish Mef. cal Association followed in the steps of its parent body when it laid a scale of fees which were reco*. mended to every 7 'ictiuoner, ... that this scale, bemr designed for ng! in a wealthier country, is largely jp. applicable to the Dominion. Reritiot is urged in the interests of the mac poorly paid workers, and of tae cost try as a whole. Commenting upon this, promisee; physicians in Wellington state th»the present scale of fees, which date; from 1922. is no more than a punj? general guide to the doctor as to 4. maximum to charge. The mining fees laid down have no relation t general practice, bat are the sdjt lated minimum, which must not k undercut by arrangement friendly societies, and rganisathtj for medical benefits. Outside the, bodies there is nothing to compel a doctor to charge anything if he doe, not wish to do so. The sUpalMec fee for advice given at the docks'; residence in the daytime, for its tana is from 10s 6d to two guineas. Tha really means that, in order to obtzibusiness with a friendly society, a doctor must not charge less than ite 6d, and that in any circumstances he must not charge more tb»n £; j," The committee which drew up tk scale of fees soon realised that it impossible to obtain any kard-sai. fast rule for the government of pr, cednre, and therefore the scale i extremely flexible, ranging from o«t guinea to 10 guineas in certain ip. stances, from 10 guineas to 50 gainew in others, and from 25 guineas to no guineas for certain major operation*. In the opinion of Mr. A. V. Keijes' burg, secretary of the Hospitals A»o----eiation, the position is unlikely to bo altered except by the establishnw; of highly-paid medical staffs in tt. hospitals, who are willing to perfont more work than is at present possible Tlie big fees charged by doctors, hr Keisenburg points out. are for stag cal work, and in his opinion a gooi surgeon, appointed to a hospital staf and highly paid, would enable the institution to recoup itself, and ban an influence upon the general level«’ fees charged.

This surgeon would have to devot* his time purely to operations, and so; be expected to carry out medical or administrative work. From the poiat of view of the doctor, however, Mr Keisenburg admits that fairly hi*b fees are justified after their lots training and limited time to earn.