FAQ

To send a message to the Clinic Manager regarding office administration go to the Admin menu –https://www.nassau.ie/admin

MEDICAL QUERIES sent to the Clinic Manager will NOT be responded to. Such medical queries will NOT be passed on to the doctor. 

If you need a medical opinion from the Doctor you must book an appointment (by tele-video or face to face) via this link  https://www.nassau.ie/book 

The doctor will assess you and if they deem it medically appropriate, they will issue you with a Private Doctor Medical Certificate. For the most common health problems, such as back pain and mild to moderate anxiety and depression, advice to stay at work or return to work early is recommended for a better clinical outcome. We do not issue Medical Certificates retrospectively i.e. the start date of the medical certificate is the day of the consultation – we cannot cover any dates prior to the date of the consultation.

Please also see FAQ 4, which explains that this emergency out-of-hours service does NOT issue Illness Benefit Forms for the purpose of Social Welfare.

No. This emergency out-of-hours service does NOT issue Social Welfare Certificates.  We do NOT issue DEASP Illness Benefit claim forms IB1 nor any type of social welfare medical certificates.

All our medical consultations incur a fee. We do not accept Medical Cards or the GP Visit Card for Adults. We do not participate in the “Contract for the provision of Free GP Care to all Children under the age of 6“. We do not accept the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC – formerly the E111 form).

We do not issue prescriptions (or repeat prescriptions) without the doctor seeing the patient. All prescriptions are issued at the discretion of the consulting doctor. We do not prescribe the COVID-19 medication Paxlovid (Nirmatrelvir & Ritonavir).

There are certain drugs that will not be issued under any circumstances and these include : controlled medication, such as strong painkillers, anxiolytics, sedatives and hypnotics and medication that requires specialist prescribing and monitoring. 

Common medications that we cannot prescribe include:

Diazepam (Valium), Clonazepan (Klonopin), Midazolam, Tapentadol (Palexia), Tramadol, Gabapentin (Neurontin), Pregabalin (Lyrica), Vicodin, Oxycodone (Oxycontin), Dexamfetamine (Amfexa), Adderall, Modafinil (Provigil), Bupronion (Wellbutrin), Trazodone, Aripiprazole (Abilify), Alprazolam (Xanax), Venlafaxine (Efexor), Paroxetine (Seroxat, Paxil), Fluoxetine (Prozac); Mirtazapine (Mirap), Pramipexole (Mirapex) and Sleeping tablets including Zopiclone (Zimovain), Zolpidem (Stilnoct, Ambien), Nitrazepam (Mogadon), Nytol (Diphenhydramine),  methylphenidate and amphetamines (Concerta, Ritalin, Adderall), Beta Blockers.

Weekend Doctor provides urgent Out-of-Hours Medical Care when your own GP is not available. We are a complementary service offering the advantages of convenience and accessibility when a patient’s own GP is not available.

We do not act as a substitute for the services that are normally provided by a GP. 

For reasons of continuity of care, your own regular Doctor is the appropriate one to write non-emergency letters of referral to medical consultants for X Ray (radiography), CT scan (computed tomography), Fluoroscopy (images of an organ), Angiography (x-ray of the blood vessels), Neurologists or for MRI scans. 

On receipt of the findings of the consultant and in the context of your complete medical history, your own Doctor can provide you with appropriate follow up care. 

If you do not already have your own GP you can find one at https://www.icgp.ie/go/find_a_gp 

In order to attain the optimal urine sample for testing patients are advised not to pass urine for 2 hours before a sexual health screen (for Chlamydia & Gonorrhoea).

If a test of cure is required, the guidelines are to wait 3 weeks after completion of the antibiotic treatment. If required please book in online –   https://www.nassau.ie/book  To increase the accuracy of the test, patients should hold their urine for 2 hours prior to giving a sample.

It is recommended that a test of cure is carried out 2 to 3 weeks after completion of the antibiotic treatment. Please book in online – https://www.nassau.ie/book  To increase the accuracy of the test, patients should hold their urine for 2 hours prior to giving a sample.

Information and support on all your options, including continued pregnancy supports and abortion services is available from –

(1) My Options freephone line on 1800 828 010 or +353 1 687 7044 or on their website

https://www2.hse.ie/services/unplanned-pregnancy-support-services/my-options-freephone-line.html

(2) The Irish Family Planning Association, Located at 5-7 Cathal Brugha Street, Dublin 1 is open Monday – Thursday from 9am to 5pm, Friday from 9am to 4pm, Saturday from 10am to 4pm.

Telephone 1850 49 50 51 or 01 872 7088 or go to their website

https://www.ifpa.ie/get-care/pregnancy-counselling/

Results take 3 to 7 working days. You can opt to receive your results (a) via text message or (b) by post to your home address or (c) you arrange a standard consultation with the Doctor to review your results – please book in online – https://www.nassau.ie/book

Please note that it is the patient’s responsibility to follow up with their test results with this clinic.

It is important before our medical team meets with you, that we understand your presenting medical issues, your medical history, current medications, and allergies. Unfortunately, if we do not receive this information from you in advance, we will be obliged to cancel your appointment. In such circumstances, if you have made a pre-payment to us, we will refund that payment in full.

An STI window period describe the time between when a person is exposed to an
infection and when a test can accurately detect whether or not an infection is present.

If you get tested during the window period and get a negative result (clear / no infection detected), you could still have an infection that can only be detected after the window period has ended.

This means that for certainty, if you have a negative result during the window period, you should re-test at the end of the window period.

START DATE – for example, in respect of HIV (as per the first line of the table below) if you had a possible exposure on the 1st day of the month, the earliest that such an infection would be detected is 18 days later (i.e. 19th day of that month).  If after 18 days you get a negative result this is good news.

95% of HIV infections are detected within 28 days of the date of the potential exposure.

END DATE – However, for some people, there is still a possibility that the HIV infection may not be detected until 90 days after the initial potential exposure. This why, in respect of HIV, even if you already have a negative result (clear / no infection detected) it is prudent to get re-tested 3 months after the initial possible exposure.

99% of HIV infections are detected within 90 days on the date of the possible exposure.

WINDOW PERIODS are as follows  –
                   Start – End
HIV                   18 – 90 days
Hepatitis A      14 – 28 days
Hepatitis B      28 – 42 days
Hepatitis C      56 – 63 days
Syphilis            21 – 42 days
Chlamydia         5 – 14 days
Gonorrhoea       5 – 14 days