An experience at a HK private hospital - am I over-reacting ?

A couple of months back I had to take my youngest son to A&E at one of the private hospitals in HK.


We saw an outpatient doctor and following an x-ray it became apparent that my son had broken his leg, however due to the unique nature of my son’s medical history the doctor said that he could not give us any advice on treatment and recommended that we go back to the surgeons involved in my son’s original treatment (which is what I expected him to say). He then asked if ‘we would like a chat with the hospitals orthopedic specialist’ to which I said yes as I thought they might be interested in my son’s case.


We had a 5-minute meeting with the specialist during which he looked at the x-rays and confirmed that he had absolutely no experience in my son’s condition and concurred with the outpatient doctor that we should contact his original surgeons.


I went downstairs and paid the bill for the x-ray & outpatient service and was then handled a 2nd bill for 1,200 HK$ for the ‘consultation’ with the specialist. As my thoughts were elsewhere I paid the bill.


Back home I decided to challenge the charge from the specialist and contacted the hospital. A week or so later I received a reply saying that the specialist thought he was justified in making the charge but was willing to reduce the amount from 1,200 to 900 HK$.


I replied by saying that they had completely missed the point and that it has nothing to do with the money but the fact that the specialist thought he could charge someone for essentially doing nothing. I asked for the specialist to donate the 300 dollars to the HK child cancer foundation, and said I would ‘leave it up to him’ to decide what to do with the remaining 900.


Yesterday I received another email from the hospital with a copy of a receipt from the foundation - for 300 dollars.


I find this whole situation deeply distasteful and am considering taking it further, however I don’t know if I am over-reacting. Am I?

Unfortunately while I can see your point, you were still provided a service from an experienced specialist, who has spent many years studying and learning his field and that is what you are paying for at the end of the day. Eventhough he couldnt help given your son's specific medical history, he still had to spend time to consult you to determine that and draw on his experience and skillset to do so. Thats what you are paying for. Hope this makes sense and your son is on the mend too.

Thanks for the replies. I guess what gets me is that I did not ask for the 'service' as I knew the specialist would not be able to help. Lesson learnt.