One-in-10 'cannot afford visit to GP'

UP TO 10% of the population cannot afford to visit their GP because of Government failure to extend medical card cover, doctors have claimed.

Delegates at the Irish Medical Organisation's (IMO) annual general meeting heard at the weekend that poorer patients are foregoing treatment because they are unable to pay to access healthcare.

In a motion calling on the Government to fulfill its pre-election promise to give medical cards to an extra 200,000 people, Dr Philip Crowley said a significant number of low earners and the unwaged were having to take risks with their own health and with the health of their families.