A WAR on GP consultation charges has erupted, with two of Fiji’s public hospitals announcing reduced charges on the service within days of each other. Yesterday, the Nadi-based 130-bed Pacific Specialist Healthcare (PSH) Hospitals issued a statement saying it has reduced its GP consultation charge to $11.50 a patient for general consultations with a special subsidised price of $7.50 for Fiji farmers, including the 10,500 sugarcane farmers registered with the Sugar Cane Growers Fund.
“Our ultimate goal is to make medical services affordable and accessible to all members of the public, not only in Fiji but the greater Pacific community,” PSH Hospitals founder and chief executive officer Parvish Kumar said.
The announcement comes hot on the heels of a similar announcement by Suva-based Oceania Hospitals, whose GP consultation fee has been reduced by half to $17.50 for normal consultation and $13.50 for patient review starting today.
Its standard GP consultation fee was $36.55.
“This adjustment reflects our dedication to making healthcare more affordable for our community while maintaining the highest standards of service,” the hospital said in a statement released on Friday.
“At Oceania Hospitals, we believe that quality healthcare should be within reach for all, and this step is just one of the many ways we are working to support the health and well-being of you and your family.
“As a leading healthcare provider, we pride ourselves on delivering exceptional care through state-of-the-art medical technology that ensures accurate diagnoses and effective treatments, highly trained and qualified medical professionals who are passionate about providing compassionate and personalized care and a commitment to continuous improvement in all aspects of patient care, ensuring that we meet and exceed international healthcare standards”.
Not to be outdone, PSH Hospitals said it will go a step further in assisting patients who are unable to afford complex treatments by introducing easy payment options.
“To make cutting edge medical services more accessible to Fiji and the greater Pacific community, we are in the process of launching more innovative solutions through which patients who are completely unable to afford medical procedures that are costly will be treated for free upon meeting the criteria required,” Mr Kumar said.
“No other private facility in the Pacific region is offering such incentives but here at PSH Hospitals we care about saving precious lives and making healthcare more affordable.”
NOTE: This article was first published in the print edition of the Fiji Times dated FEBRUARY 10, 2025.
