Cost of a diving medical

[steve swift]

Hi

In our club, everyone has to have a medical before they can dive (self-declaration is not sufficient). One of the members has just been quoted ?80 for one from his GP surgery. Is that a bit steep,or the norm? If steep, does anyone know a Dr in the Bedford area who does it cheaper?

Thanks
Steve

[Andy Wade]

Hi

In our club, everyone has to have a medical before they can dive (self-declaration is not sufficient). One of the members has just been quoted ?80 for one from his GP surgery. Is that a bit steep,or the norm? If steep, does anyone know a Dr in the Bedford area who does it cheaper?


Speak to your local medical centre.
4 years ago we got our local medical centre to do a block of medicals for us, it worked out at ?25.00 each, there were 8 of us that had a medical, it was still a good earner for the Doc as he did all of us in one evening.
We all paid cash too.....

[steve swift]

Speak to your local medical centre.
4 years ago we got our local medical centre to do a block of medicals for us, it worked out at ?25.00 each, there were 8 of us that had a medical, it was still a good earner for the Doc as he did all of us in one evening.
We all paid cash too.....

Thanks Andy, but the number of members who have to pay for the medical at the moment (ie 1) do not give us much negotiating power! Still, ?25 is a much better starting point than ?80!!!

Steve

[Nigel Hewitt]

In our club, everyone has to have a medical before they can dive (self-declaration is not sufficient). One of the members has just been quoted ?80 for one from his GP surgery.

Heck only I pay 50 quid for a pucka Hypabaric specialist and UKSDMC member to read my record of a heart attack, interesting motorcycle racing damage and all sorts of fun medication and then work me over. It must be bad when a busy doctor remembers you from last year...

...but in London I'm afraid. Is he sure the GP isn't confusing UKSDM with HSE which is more complex?

Conversely I am impressed by a club that knows better than the UKSDMC. Do they have a bad history for medical problems to make the 'no self certification' rule?

nigelH

[Dave]

In our club, everyone has to have a medical before they can dive (self-declaration is not sufficient).

Hmm.. Well, if it was me, that's a club which I would avoid straight out and go elsewhere.


One of the members has just been quoted ?80 for one from his GP surgery. Is that a bit steep,or the norm?


Pretty normal. When medicals were required, the "rrp" for them was ?60. Time has passed since then, so ?80 sounds pretty fair


cheaper

Umm. simple. learn with a non dinosaur club and save the whole amount

Dave

[pat farrell]

Hi

In our club, everyone has to have a medical before they can dive (self-declaration is not sufficient). One of the members has just been quoted ?80 for one from his GP surgery. Is that a bit steep,or the norm? If steep, does anyone know a Dr in the Bedford area who does it cheaper?

Thanks
Steve

I thought this old chesnut was dead. we know that "diving medicals " done by most gp's are worthless, as they have no understanding of diving physiology & medicine. So ?25 for a meaningless piece of paper is a rip off
Likewise how much an hour do you expect to pay to have your car serviced or regulators done.
If these individuals are worthy of the prices they charge why not the docs!
I am sorry to say you get what you pay for.

[Keith Lawrence(BSAC)]

I thought this old chesnut was dead. we know that "diving medicals " done by most gp's are worthless, as they have no understanding of diving physiology & medicine. So ?25 for a meaningless piece of paper is a rip off
Likewise how much an hour do you expect to pay to have your car serviced or regulators done.
If these individuals are worthy of the prices they charge why not the docs!
I am sorry to say you get what you pay for.

First of all I feel that you had better clarify whether you are the Dr Pat Farrell who is a committee member of the UKSDMC, if you are then I find your comments out-of-order.

IIRC the quality of a standard Sport Diving Medical was never in question, it was just that it was a pointless exercise for the vast majority of divers. It was only where referral was required that the system didn?t work, a simple self certification should be sufficient to refer a diver to an expert without having to have a standard medical first. To call a standard medical ?worthless? and ?meaningless? is an insult to all medical practitioners who are perfectly capable of measuring simple BP (for example) in my experience.

Your point re a professionals time is well made and acknowledged, but to call a standard medical a ?rip off? does great disservice to the medical profession who carry out such simple medicals for a variety of reasons all of the time. I would also remind you that this ?rip off? was until very recently sanctioned and required by the UKSDMC itself. What a difference a year or so makes.

Keith Lawrence
BSAC Council Member

[steve swift]

I should have thought that this point would be raised and worded my Q better. There are reasons that we all have to have a medical before we dive, but I would rather not go into them on the forum. Suffice to say that a higher authority has decreed that we will have one. I don't make the rules, I just have to abide by them, and there are reasons why members will stay with this club in spite of this rule.

It would seem that if Nigel only paid ?50 for a medical, then asking ?80 might be a touch on the expensive side. I think I will advise the chap to look elsewhere, unless anyone else has experience of paying more? On the back of the old medical form, there was a list of BSAC medical referees. Is that list still available anywhere?

Thanks
Steve

[Keith Lawrence(BSAC)]

On the back of the old medical form, there was a list of BSAC medical referees. Is that list still available anywhere?

See link

Keith L

[Philip Smith]

I thought this old chesnut was dead. we know that "diving medicals " done by most gp's are worthless, as they have no understanding of diving physiology & medicine.

The data analysis that purported to substantiate this was flawed.

Philip Smith

[terryh]

Umm. simple. learn with a non dinosaur club and save the whole amount


So we replace alleged dinosaur thinking with ignorance do we?

What so readily gets forgotten, is that although BSAC is our "parent" organisation, many of us have additional
requirements thrust upon us that are not part of any BSAC
rules/regs.

Primarily in the Uni/school, goverment/forces etc. area, we can
be talking additional constitutions, each with another tier of
rules.

You might want to call these bodies dinosaurs, but in many
cases you tow the line and do what they say, or you dont
exist. The choice is really that black & white.

So if he needs a medical, he needs a medical.
Not dinosaur, just a fact of life.

TerryH

[steve swift]

See link

Keith L

Thanks Keith.

Steve

[Andy Wade]

:=
:=Umm. simple. learn with a non dinosaur club and save the whole amount
:=

So we replace alleged dinosaur thinking with ignorance do we?

What so readily gets forgotten, is that although BSAC is our "parent" organisation, many of us have additional
requirements thrust upon us that are not part of any BSAC
rules/regs.

Primarily in the Uni/school, goverment/forces etc. area, we can
be talking additional constitutions, each with another tier of
rules.

You might want to call these bodies dinosaurs, but in many
cases you tow the line and do what they say, or you dont
exist. The choice is really that black & white.

So if he needs a medical, he needs a medical.
Not dinosaur, just a fact of life.


I have a medical so that I can dive abroad in certain countries. Without it, I don't dive on holiday.

[mark allen]

Steve
You may or may not know the Higher authority are looking in to changing the Medicals for your personel., and they should only need to sign a self decleration when the change comes in force. That should be for both types of members. Email me if you want any other info
Mark Allen
I should have thought that this point would be raised and worded my Q better. There are reasons that we all have to have a medical before we dive, but I would rather not go into them on the forum. Suffice to say that a higher authority has decreed that we will have one. I don't make the rules, I just have to abide by them, and there are reasons why members will stay with this club in spite of this rule.

It would seem that if Nigel only paid ?50 for a medical, then asking ?80 might be a touch on the expensive side. I think I will advise the chap to look elsewhere, unless anyone else has experience of paying more? On the back of the old medical form, there was a list of BSAC medical referees. Is that list still available anywhere?

Thanks
Steve

[derek perry]

Nigel

This branch is not the only one that requires a full medical. Our branch does as well, but only when you first start diving. We know other branches that also have the same requirement.
Yes over the years our branch has had 2 people who had life threatening conditions that forbid them from diving. These were only discovered at the medical. Both were new members. One of these instances has occured since self declaration came in and thank god our branch retained that requirement, and we don't have any intention of changing it.

Derek



:=In our club, everyone has to have a medical before they can dive (self-declaration is not sufficient). One of the members has just been quoted ?80 for one from his GP surgery.

Heck only I pay 50 quid for a pucka Hypabaric specialist and UKSDMC member to read my record of a heart attack, interesting motorcycle racing damage and all sorts of fun medication and then work me over. It must be bad when a busy doctor remembers you from last year...

...but in London I'm afraid. Is he sure the GP isn't confusing UKSDM with HSE which is more complex?

Conversely I am impressed by a club that knows better than the UKSDMC. Do they have a bad history for medical problems to make the 'no self certification' rule?

nigelH