Free GP care for all urged by society

A REPORT by a voluntary organisation which supports hospital services has called for free GP care for everyone, arguing it would cost less than widening the M50.

The Adelaide Hospital Society accuses the Government of failing to ensure equity of access to health services as promised in its 2001 National Health Strategy and of failure to extend the medical card scheme to an extra 200,000 people.

The free GP care package is a key part of the comprehensive primary care service proposed by the society in a report to government outlining a prescription for tackling health inequalities.

Society director Dr Fergus O’Ferrall said: “it will cost €850 million to widen the M50 and what we are asking for is an investment of €700m a year to create a free comprehensive primary health care service.”

The society also calls on the Government to abandon the “creeping privatisation of our hospitals” arguing it will not tackle the two-tier system which ensures people with money are treated before those most in need.

The free GP care package proposed by the society would be phased in over several years.

Neither the Government nor the Department of Health wanted to comment on its plan yesterday without reading the report.