Almost seven out of 10 dentists and half of doctors do not display prices, a survey by the National Consumer Agency (NCA) has found.
Prices charged by both doctors and dentists vary considerably across different areas of the country, and within local areas, the survey also found.
The agency today called for greater transparency about doctor and dentist charges after the survey found large regional variations in the propensity to display fees. In Tallaght/Walkinstown, for example, 80 per cent of doctors surveyed displayed a schedule of charges, as against 22 per cent in Cork.
Some 54 per cent of dentists surveyed in Waterford displayed prices versus just 9 per cent in Cork.
NCA staff visited 251 doctors’ and dentists’ premises in March for the survey. Overall, 32 per cent of dentists and 50 per cent of doctors surveyed displayed their prices.
NCA chief executive Ann Fitzgerald said there was no reason why doctors and dentists should be exempt from the general requirement to display prices for routine services. Since a proportion of both professions were already doing this, there was no good reason why all doctors and dentists could not do so.
Ms Fitzgerald said she has written to the representative bodies for the two profession inviting them to submit a code of practice in the area. The agency has also asked Minister for Enterprise and Employment Batt O’Keeffe to support measures for greater price display transparency.
Prices for GPs ranged between €70 at one practice in Ballsbridge/Sandymount to €35 in Tralee/Killarney. The overall average was €51.
Prices for a routine examination from a dentist ranged from nothing from seven dentists around the country to €86 charged by one practice in south Dublin. The overall average was €44.
The overall average for a scale and polish was €61, with fees ranging between €25 and €90.