What is a GP Consultation?
A doctor’s visit, also known as a physician office visit or a consultation, or a ward round in an inpatient care context, is a meeting between a patient with a physician to get health advice or treatment plan for a symptom or condition, most often at a professional health facility such as a doctor’s office, clinic or hospital.
How Much Is A GP Consultation In south Africa?
The Council for Medical Scheme (CMS) has published its annual report for outlining the cost of doctor visits and other medical specialists in South Africa.
The report shows that the amount of money paid to supplementary and allied health professionals increased by 9.25% from R12.9 billion in 2025 to R14.1 billion in 2025.
Of this amount, open medical schemes spent R7.9 billion, and restricted medical schemes spent just over R6.2 billion.
The CMS found that the average expenditure per event in hospital was higher in restricted schemes at R2,851 compared with R1,478 for open schemes.
Expenditure on general practitioners (GPs) amounted to R10.3 billion, an increase of 7.55% from R9.6 billion in 2025. Hospital visits accounted for 13.4% of expenditure on GPs, with an average of R1,073 per event.
Visits out-of-hospital averaged R408. The CMS found that restricted schemes paid higher fees per event compared with open schemes.
Payments to medical specialists amounted to R13.5 billion or 7.26% of total healthcare benefits paid in 2025. Around 62% of expenditure related to treatment in-hospital at an average of R1,621 per event, and R1,243 per event out-of-hospital.
Can GPs work privately?
GPs can set up private practices to provide these services although they must not be treating their practices’ registered patients. If you earn more than 10% private earnings from your practice’s premises then your cost or notional rent will be abated.
Do GPs get charged for hospital referrals?
The payment GPs receive is not affected directly by referrals or prescribing – the costs for this are in a separate budget. If your GP decides to prescribe an expensive medicine for you they are not paying for it themselves.
Can GP refuse to prescribe?
A GP, even a dispensing GP, is not allowed to sell any ‘over the counter’ medicines. Can my GP refuse to give me a prescription that my consultant asked them to provide?
Yes, your GP may refuse because the person who signs the prescription is legally liable for the prescribing and the consequent effects of that drug.