Patients put quality before fees when picking GPs

PATIENTS who pay to see their family doctor are not put off by cost but visit their GP less often than medical card holders, a survey has found.

A Department of Health study of private practice charges found just 4% of patients' rate fees as the first issue to influence them in opting for a particular family doctor.

It quoted the average GP fee per private consultation at just under €36, a figure disputed by Consumer Association chief executive Dermott Jewell.

"That figure certainly doesn't hold in Dublin and I would be surprised if it held in any of the major cities like Cork, Limerick or Galway. To be honest, at the time of converting to the euro, we had people quoting higher prices than that."

However, Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP) spokesperson Dr Niall Ó Cléirigh said the €36 average was accurate on a national level, but closer to €40 in Dublin and €30 in rural locations.

Just 12 patients in the survey said they were charged over €50.

Mr Jewell said a more extensive, independent survey, naming locations of surgeries included in the study, needed to be undertaken. The Department of Health survey, to which 1,130 patients responded, does not give a geographical breakdown.

Mr Jewell also said complaints to his office tended to relate more to the waiting times for a doctor's appointment rather than the actual cost.

This is consistent with the survey, which found both medical card and private patients rated quality of service as the main reason for choosing a particular GP. Under 20% rated a doctor's personality as a reason for choosing a particular doctor; 7.5% rated the local reputation of the doctor and less than 7% said they would choose a doctor because he was the family GP.

The survey also found private patients see their doctor an average of 2.8 occasions per year, compared to a 4.6 average for medical card holders. Just one-in-five GPs charge private patients more for out-of-hours consultations.

The majority (65%) did not expect to pay as high a fee if seen by the practice nurse rather the doctor.

Labour health spokesperson Liz McManus called on Health Minister Micheál Martin to publish the study in full the only details to emerge were carried in yesterday's edition of the Irish Medical News.