public v's semi private

i personally dont want to go fully private but i was just wondering what the difference is between public and semi private? we have vhi does that make a difference? thanks in advance girls?

i had the same questions last week but if you do a search there are hundreds of posts covering this

I am going private and I am very glad I am. I dont know a huge amount about semi private so I can only comment on my own experience. I had my first scan at 12 weeks and meet with my consultant every 3-4 weeks. I meet him in his private clinic which is away from the hospital and rarely have to wait very long for him. Have a scan of some description every time I visit and had a full anomaly scan at 20 weeks which many hospitals don't do. It is expensive (€3000 in Kilkenny) but worth it in my opinion. I have other problems and am also 34 so wanted the best care I could get. VHI will pay for my hospital accommodation but do not cover consultant fees. Apparently you can claim some of the money back on your MED1 form though. I know I am not guaranteed a private room but I'll keep my fingers crossed!

As Mrs Gerard said, best thing is to do a search and you'll get all the opinions. VHI cover the cost of accommodation (3 nights) in a semi private room (if available). You cover the additional costs related to consultants which may vary from hospital to hospital. The Rotunda is now 1,200. You can claim back on Med1 form at end of tax year. Not all hospitals offer semi-P but I think all dublin ones do

Not sure what hospital you are going to but from my experience semi private in the rotunda is a waste of money.... I didnt even get onto a semi private ward after i had the baby..in saying that i wouldnt go public, after spending a night on a public ward, its was a nightmare.....I would go with the Midwife led care..a much better option and free. The midwifes in the labour ward are excellent and its irrelavant if you are public, semi p or private you will get the same care....

I'm SP in Holles St and very happy with it, also doign combined care with my GP. I'm with VHI (currently, moving to Quinn in January) and aid €500 fees and then €120 for the anomaly scan. So I had appointment at 16 weeks (usually you'd se midwives at 12 for your history to be taken, and then meet with consultant about 16 weeks, not sure why I'd both done at 16 weeks) had a quick scan at this and met midwives and consultant. Was back at 22 weeks for my big scan. Was back with conutlant then at 26 weeks, but was a really quick and flying visit, and will take turns from now on between GP and consultant (have also seen my GP twice so far). I was in a car crash and had to go to the hospital for a scan and bloods to make sure baby was OK. A big deal was made about me being SP, but I'd be hoping in that situation that everyone would get the same care. The nurses just kept mentioning it to the doctor and other nurses that i was 'from upstairs'. From what I saw in the public section that day the queues seem awful long - while they look long in SP they fly by! HTH

[quote="deliriouslyhappy":3gj3nwdm]Not sure what hospital you are going to but from my experience semi private in the rotunda is a waste of money.... I didnt even get onto a semi private ward after i had the baby..in saying that i wouldnt go public, after spending a night on a public ward, its was a nightmare.....I would go with the Midwife led care..a much better option and free. The midwifes in the labour ward are excellent and its irrelavant if you are public, semi p or private you will get the same care....[/quote:3gj3nwdm] Deliriously Happy...sorry if this is a silly question but what is midwife led care? What's the difference?

I went semi-private with Holles Street on ds. Half my ante natal appointments were in the hospital and half with my GP. The semi-private clinic is a horrid little pre-fab, totally over-crowded and at times we had to queue up the stairs. As I got further along I used to suffer from claustrophobia and fainting and it was miserable. This time I'm attending the community midwives. Instead of having hospital appointments with a consultant, I see a midwive out in Carrickmines. You get a real appointment so practically no queueing. It is a different philosophy of care, treating pregnancy and birth as a natural affair instead of a medical one. It is a public scheme, which is ironic because it is so much nicer. I had to attend the hospital once, and compared to the semi-private waiting area, the public area is lovely and roomy. The consultant was every bit as professional and impersonal as in semi-private. Ultimately on semi-private you pay for any shortfall not covered by your insurer, all of which you would get for free on public care. On semi-private you see the same consultant on each visit whereas on public you see whoever is available on the day. On both schemes you will only havea consultant attending your birth if there is a problem, and in both cases it will be whichever consultant is on duty that day. If you are semi-private you will be put in a semi-private ward (with about 5 other patients), if you are a public pateint there are more people on the ward. I wouldn't like private care, because I want to see as little of doctors as possible If I wasn't eligible for the community midwives and had to have consultant-led care, I would choose public over semi-private. But obviously that is totally personal and everyone is different. Good luck choosing and pm if you have any questions.

[quote="wifín":3ogilv7u][quote="deliriouslyhappy":3ogilv7u]Not sure what hospital you are going to but from my experience semi private in the rotunda is a waste of money.... I didnt even get onto a semi private ward after i had the baby..in saying that i wouldnt go public, after spending a night on a public ward, its was a nightmare.....I would go with the Midwife led care..a much better option and free. The midwifes in the labour ward are excellent and its irrelavant if you are public, semi p or private you will get the same care....[/quote:3ogilv7u] Deliriously Happy...sorry if this is a silly question but what is midwife led care? What's the difference?[/quote:3ogilv7u] Hi Wifin, It is like Altons post above. I would visit the midwifes in their centre in Swords for pre natal visits and not have to go to the hospital for appointments. They are part of the rotunda. I can then avail of the early transfer home scheme(which i asked for on this pregnancy after i had the baby as I hated being in the public ward so much) I now have a midwife from the rotunda calling to me daily and she is excellent. For me it was a much better option. It is free too and i feel I have great support, I can ring them if I have any problems in between visits.