Free GP care is an awful move. You’ll just have everyone running to their GP for the most unimportant things which will completely overwhelm the system.
People who already get it for free go to the GP when they have the sniffles.
Without a massive influx of GPs this will be a disaster.
I think it would be better money spent if we hire 100 consultants to discuss this matter for the next 15 years and then decide it’s not economically viable. It’s just how we do things.
That seems like a good deal.
The wait for a GP appointment would be like 6 months if they did free GP
This will be a disaster. If you make it free people will abuse it.
You’ll be waiting weeks just to get a simple appointment.
The cost of it isn’t an issue, the average age of GPs is over 60 and there’s a major shortage of them. Making it free for everyone would basically collapse the system.
It would be like if you had only 1 bus going from your town into the local city each day and you suddenly decided to make it free public transport. You’d have 5,000 people turn up for the 1 bus.
It’s a great idea. I’m 31(M). I earn 55-60k gross every year and I’d be extremely hesitant to go to a GP unless I was really very unwell. It’s really expensive. I haven’t had a check up in 3 or 4yrs and most of my friends are the same.
I have some relations that don’t work at all and have medical cards and they are always going to the doctor. Any time they have a cold or a pain or anything they go to the doctor.
Nobody should worry about the cost of getting seen by a GP in a country with a budget surplus of 5.2 billion euros.
OK let’s get started training medical staff. Let’s do this!
Bargain
And paying for GP care at point of purchase costs us what as a nation?
What the fuck use is the headline figure without any kind of comparison?
TO those who say there won’t be enough doctors, sure probably. But there are *already* not enough doctors. So that situation needs to be tackled at any rate. If you’re planning free GP care, plan to have adequate doctors instead of clogging up A & E with people who should have been to see a GP 3 days ago.
Seems like good value assuming it includes hiring more GP’s (which we need regardless!). I wonder if it would reduce the impact to emergency departments. In theory, it should, but then if you look at what’s going on across the water I wouldn’t be so sure.
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Maybe I’m living under a rock, but I don’t see people begging for free GP care. If you look at what the people working on the frontline are asking for, it’s more consultants and fairer pay. Maybe that’s where we should be investing more.
You can barely get a GP as it is, there’s a massive shortage. Opening the floodgates would be a disaster.
That seems fine. But let’s get a few more GPS too.
Sounds great but Irelands GP service is already on its knees in some places because there isnt the staff to back it. If they can figure out a way to fix that then good!
Fine by me.
Do we have enough GPs available for this?
I hear that it is difficult to get an appointment. I’ve never found this personally, but it is widely reported. In my GP the problem is just getting them to answer the phone, there’s usually near term appointments available and they run emergency walk in times.
Sounds a lazy solution and an attempt of buying votes to appease the masses. The middle will pay for it down the road and the top don’t need it.
Free healthcare only works if there’s quotas.
I know people who frequent the A&E departments and doctors clinics with their kids for completely nonsensical reasons. It’s an absolute waste of resources.
Everyone should get 1 free visit a year perhaps and then low income people can get say 3 visits per year or work it as a scale of income. But even those with medical cards shouldn’t just have unlimited opportunity to go for no reason and waste time and resources. Obviously those with chronic or diagnosed dibilitating conditions should get whatever healthcare they need but a blanket free reign for everyone to use a system that is already clearly past breaking point isn’t going to make things better for anyone. Arguably it will make it way worse for the people who need it most.
The same thing happened last year with free school busses. There isn’t enough capacity as it is so making it free for everyone just opens it up for abuse of the system
What stupid talk is this. My wife was sick before Christmas and couldn’t get a GP either her own or Southdoc. There’s no point costing something that’s not available.
The previous expansion to free GP care for children has been a disaster for other people who now can’t get an appointment because the system is unsurprisingly abused by parents bringing in their child for things they don’t need to see a doctor for, simply because it can be done at no cost.
That puts more pressure on the hospital system because people who are actually sick and can’t get a GP appointment inevitably end up in the ED.
That’s not to say this wouldn’t be great if they had the proper resource to do with but without a significant increase in the # of GPs, which seems unlikely. then it would be a disaster.
I’d rather they spent the money on properly staffing the emergency departments.
It would completely overwhelm the system. A friend of mine is a GP and the majority of her day-to-day patients are people with medical cards who have something trivial wrong with them, such as a cold or a funny elbow, who are basically going in for a chat as opposed to a diagnosis. I believe everyone should pay some sort of small marginal fee, for example if you have a medical card you pay a tenner or something small. 50 quid is too much, paying nothing is too little. It would make it more affordable for those who don’t qualify for assitance, and would also make those who view the doctors office as a social outlet, think twice about it.
This could save money in the long term. My uncle because of his age has to get a yearly medical to keep his lorry licence.
A few years ago they found very early prostate cancer. 2 or 3 goes of radium treatment and the cancer is gone.
He’s one of those auld lads that wouldn’t go to the doctor unless he was half dead.
It would have cost the state a lot more if the cancer wasn’t discovered for another year or 2.
He did tell the doctor of some discomfort in the area but wouldn’t have gone to him unless he had to for the licence.
That’s not even that bad. In the context of the overall budget it’s very little. Sounds like a no-brainer to me.
Even drop it to 25euro and I’d ve happy
I think we need something between free and what we have now, the evidence from systems where everything is free is that they’re overused and GPs are swamped with minor issues because every hypochondriac is turning up with x, y and z wrong with them.
The Singaporean system essentially ringfences some of your earnings into a health savings account that you can only spend on healthcare. The upshot is the same as what we’re aspiring for here i.e. your taxes go towards a health system you can use without spending your own discretionary money on it. But there’s also a recognition that it’s not unlimited and that you can’t just use it for every and any minor issue.
They make allowances for chronic conditions, treatments for serious diseases and other things that would cost more than anyone could have saved in their healthcare savings accounts. But ultimately it’s about recognising that healthcare is not free, that resources are not unlimited and that the system can only serve everyone when this is borne in mind by all its users.
Well if they were serious about the alcohol price increases as a health decision and not just taxation they would be fine with this right?
That’s cheap. GP care is a block on Irish unity. Why would anyone who’s on the fence about a united ireland give up their free healthcare and live under the HSE when they can have the NHS.
Giving everyone X number of free GP visits per year instead of unlimited would probably be a better way forward. To begin with at least.
Spoke to my GP before and she couldn’t get over how people with free visits for kids were abusing the system and turning up for any reason at all simply because it was free when there was clearly no need for it.
What a waste of time researching the cost when it doesn’t factor in that if the GP was free people would go in for absolutely anything.
I find it funny that I pay taxes and I can’t get a urology appointment… waited for 2 years … they offered me one in Sligo which is quite far away from me, nearly 2 hrs drive, I said no and they took me off the list… now I need to go back to the GP pay another 60 euro so she can check me up again and refer me to a urologist and hope back on the list for another few years… fun times to be alive.
I actually sat down a while ago and dug deep into these figures lol and my calculations where this – if we have 2 million people in the workforce and the government taxes these people just 40 euro/month that would total 960m per year. All expenses paid!
This kinda reminds me of that time they brought in free bus travel for every child, and ensuing shitshow
A free waiting period to see a GP of 8 months included
I think a small charge would be a better idea or say x free visits per year (someone with long term illness or chronic condition could get more).
Friend is a GP and he said some people completely take the piss with free GP care,the above set up would help to discourage frivolous visits.
A huge issue with any proposal is the lack of GPs .
>The chairperson of the Irish Medical Organisation’s GP Sub-Committee said he would be concerned that the introduction of free GP care in an “unplanned way” would lead to GPs “not being able to handle the stress” associated with it.
Speaking on the same programme, Dr Denis McCauley said: “If you super impose free GP care in an unplanned way it will overwhelm the system and you’ll have waiting lists in GPs … young GPs will say it’s turning into the UK and the system is going to become dysfunctional”.
He said that at present, GPs do not know when the next batch of doctor visit cards are going to come in while free GP care for six and seven-year-olds was meant to start last year and has not started in any way.
He said there have been discussions with the Government and HSE related to age-related expansion and the further expansion of free GP cards, but “we are trying to find out what the plans are”.
So, adding more promises to stuff not delivered on yet.
And potentially overwhelming the GP system as well.
If you put GP’s on a salary and remove the incentive of private practice they will not work as hard or stay late. Their paperwork, HR issues etc. etc. will be done on the government’s time. This will be a disaster.
Probably still couldn’t get an appointment. Especially if it’s free, meaning everyone will book an appointment for every little scratch, bruise, headache and tickle in the throat.
40 comments
That’s pretty cheap. Get on with it.
Free GP care is an awful move. You’ll just have everyone running to their GP for the most unimportant things which will completely overwhelm the system.
People who already get it for free go to the GP when they have the sniffles.
Without a massive influx of GPs this will be a disaster.
I think it would be better money spent if we hire 100 consultants to discuss this matter for the next 15 years and then decide it’s not economically viable. It’s just how we do things.
That seems like a good deal.
The wait for a GP appointment would be like 6 months if they did free GP
This will be a disaster. If you make it free people will abuse it.
You’ll be waiting weeks just to get a simple appointment.
The cost of it isn’t an issue, the average age of GPs is over 60 and there’s a major shortage of them. Making it free for everyone would basically collapse the system.
It would be like if you had only 1 bus going from your town into the local city each day and you suddenly decided to make it free public transport. You’d have 5,000 people turn up for the 1 bus.
It’s a great idea. I’m 31(M). I earn 55-60k gross every year and I’d be extremely hesitant to go to a GP unless I was really very unwell. It’s really expensive. I haven’t had a check up in 3 or 4yrs and most of my friends are the same.
I have some relations that don’t work at all and have medical cards and they are always going to the doctor. Any time they have a cold or a pain or anything they go to the doctor.
Nobody should worry about the cost of getting seen by a GP in a country with a budget surplus of 5.2 billion euros.
OK let’s get started training medical staff. Let’s do this!
Bargain
And paying for GP care at point of purchase costs us what as a nation?
What the fuck use is the headline figure without any kind of comparison?
TO those who say there won’t be enough doctors, sure probably. But there are *already* not enough doctors. So that situation needs to be tackled at any rate. If you’re planning free GP care, plan to have adequate doctors instead of clogging up A & E with people who should have been to see a GP 3 days ago.
Seems like good value assuming it includes hiring more GP’s (which we need regardless!). I wonder if it would reduce the impact to emergency departments. In theory, it should, but then if you look at what’s going on across the water I wouldn’t be so sure.
​
Maybe I’m living under a rock, but I don’t see people begging for free GP care. If you look at what the people working on the frontline are asking for, it’s more consultants and fairer pay. Maybe that’s where we should be investing more.
You can barely get a GP as it is, there’s a massive shortage. Opening the floodgates would be a disaster.
That seems fine. But let’s get a few more GPS too.
Sounds great but Irelands GP service is already on its knees in some places because there isnt the staff to back it. If they can figure out a way to fix that then good!
Fine by me.
Do we have enough GPs available for this?
I hear that it is difficult to get an appointment. I’ve never found this personally, but it is widely reported. In my GP the problem is just getting them to answer the phone, there’s usually near term appointments available and they run emergency walk in times.
Sounds a lazy solution and an attempt of buying votes to appease the masses. The middle will pay for it down the road and the top don’t need it.
Free healthcare only works if there’s quotas.
I know people who frequent the A&E departments and doctors clinics with their kids for completely nonsensical reasons. It’s an absolute waste of resources.
Everyone should get 1 free visit a year perhaps and then low income people can get say 3 visits per year or work it as a scale of income. But even those with medical cards shouldn’t just have unlimited opportunity to go for no reason and waste time and resources. Obviously those with chronic or diagnosed dibilitating conditions should get whatever healthcare they need but a blanket free reign for everyone to use a system that is already clearly past breaking point isn’t going to make things better for anyone. Arguably it will make it way worse for the people who need it most.
The same thing happened last year with free school busses. There isn’t enough capacity as it is so making it free for everyone just opens it up for abuse of the system
What stupid talk is this. My wife was sick before Christmas and couldn’t get a GP either her own or Southdoc. There’s no point costing something that’s not available.
The previous expansion to free GP care for children has been a disaster for other people who now can’t get an appointment because the system is unsurprisingly abused by parents bringing in their child for things they don’t need to see a doctor for, simply because it can be done at no cost.
That puts more pressure on the hospital system because people who are actually sick and can’t get a GP appointment inevitably end up in the ED.
That’s not to say this wouldn’t be great if they had the proper resource to do with but without a significant increase in the # of GPs, which seems unlikely. then it would be a disaster.
I’d rather they spent the money on properly staffing the emergency departments.
It would completely overwhelm the system. A friend of mine is a GP and the majority of her day-to-day patients are people with medical cards who have something trivial wrong with them, such as a cold or a funny elbow, who are basically going in for a chat as opposed to a diagnosis. I believe everyone should pay some sort of small marginal fee, for example if you have a medical card you pay a tenner or something small. 50 quid is too much, paying nothing is too little. It would make it more affordable for those who don’t qualify for assitance, and would also make those who view the doctors office as a social outlet, think twice about it.
This could save money in the long term. My uncle because of his age has to get a yearly medical to keep his lorry licence.
A few years ago they found very early prostate cancer. 2 or 3 goes of radium treatment and the cancer is gone.
He’s one of those auld lads that wouldn’t go to the doctor unless he was half dead.
It would have cost the state a lot more if the cancer wasn’t discovered for another year or 2.
He did tell the doctor of some discomfort in the area but wouldn’t have gone to him unless he had to for the licence.
That’s not even that bad. In the context of the overall budget it’s very little. Sounds like a no-brainer to me.
Even drop it to 25euro and I’d ve happy
I think we need something between free and what we have now, the evidence from systems where everything is free is that they’re overused and GPs are swamped with minor issues because every hypochondriac is turning up with x, y and z wrong with them.
The Singaporean system essentially ringfences some of your earnings into a health savings account that you can only spend on healthcare. The upshot is the same as what we’re aspiring for here i.e. your taxes go towards a health system you can use without spending your own discretionary money on it. But there’s also a recognition that it’s not unlimited and that you can’t just use it for every and any minor issue.
They make allowances for chronic conditions, treatments for serious diseases and other things that would cost more than anyone could have saved in their healthcare savings accounts. But ultimately it’s about recognising that healthcare is not free, that resources are not unlimited and that the system can only serve everyone when this is borne in mind by all its users.
Well if they were serious about the alcohol price increases as a health decision and not just taxation they would be fine with this right?
That’s cheap. GP care is a block on Irish unity. Why would anyone who’s on the fence about a united ireland give up their free healthcare and live under the HSE when they can have the NHS.
Giving everyone X number of free GP visits per year instead of unlimited would probably be a better way forward. To begin with at least.
Spoke to my GP before and she couldn’t get over how people with free visits for kids were abusing the system and turning up for any reason at all simply because it was free when there was clearly no need for it.
What a waste of time researching the cost when it doesn’t factor in that if the GP was free people would go in for absolutely anything.
I find it funny that I pay taxes and I can’t get a urology appointment… waited for 2 years … they offered me one in Sligo which is quite far away from me, nearly 2 hrs drive, I said no and they took me off the list… now I need to go back to the GP pay another 60 euro so she can check me up again and refer me to a urologist and hope back on the list for another few years… fun times to be alive.
I actually sat down a while ago and dug deep into these figures lol and my calculations where this – if we have 2 million people in the workforce and the government taxes these people just 40 euro/month that would total 960m per year. All expenses paid!
This kinda reminds me of that time they brought in free bus travel for every child, and ensuing shitshow
A free waiting period to see a GP of 8 months included
I think a small charge would be a better idea or say x free visits per year (someone with long term illness or chronic condition could get more).
Friend is a GP and he said some people completely take the piss with free GP care,the above set up would help to discourage frivolous visits.
A huge issue with any proposal is the lack of GPs .
>The chairperson of the Irish Medical Organisation’s GP Sub-Committee said he would be concerned that the introduction of free GP care in an “unplanned way” would lead to GPs “not being able to handle the stress” associated with it.
Speaking on the same programme, Dr Denis McCauley said: “If you super impose free GP care in an unplanned way it will overwhelm the system and you’ll have waiting lists in GPs … young GPs will say it’s turning into the UK and the system is going to become dysfunctional”.
He said that at present, GPs do not know when the next batch of doctor visit cards are going to come in while free GP care for six and seven-year-olds was meant to start last year and has not started in any way.
He said there have been discussions with the Government and HSE related to age-related expansion and the further expansion of free GP cards, but “we are trying to find out what the plans are”.
So, adding more promises to stuff not delivered on yet.
And potentially overwhelming the GP system as well.
If you put GP’s on a salary and remove the incentive of private practice they will not work as hard or stay late. Their paperwork, HR issues etc. etc. will be done on the government’s time. This will be a disaster.
Probably still couldn’t get an appointment. Especially if it’s free, meaning everyone will book an appointment for every little scratch, bruise, headache and tickle in the throat.