Free GP care for u-13s ‘unrealistic’ - IMO

Extending free GP care to all children under the age of 13, when the “very fragile” service is at breaking point, is unrealistic, the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) has said.

IMO president Padraig McGarry also accused the Government of pursuing an electioneering strategy of offering “free” services.

He was responding to the Government’s approval of the extension of free GP care to all children under the age of 13, beginning this year with children aged six and seven.

Also, income limits for medical-card assessments for people aged 70 will be increased, a measure already announced in the budget and which will benefit up to 56,000 people.

However, the IMO said no agreement had been reached with the doctors’ representative group on how free GP care would be extended to under-13s.

The free GP scheme is currently only available to children under the age of six.

Health Minister Simon Harris has asked his officials to begin drafting legislation that will extend GP care without charges to all primary school children. The bill will also increase the medical card income limits for those aged 70 or more to €550 for individuals, or €1,050 for couples.

“GP services are at breaking point, both in our day-time and out-of-hours services and, without significant additional resources, it is simply not realistic to introduce policies to increase demands on what is a very fragile service,” said Dr McGarry.

He said the recent €210m contract agreement between the IMO and the Department was at the early stages of implementation and “very significant” capacity problems within the service had to be addressed.

“We still have problems of practices being unable to take on new patients, serious problems in our out-of-hours service, and any extension of cards must take these issues into account,” he said.

Dr McGarry also warned that while the IMO had agreed to discuss with the Government its latest plans for free GP care, these talks had yet to take place.

“It looks like the Government is prioritising an election promise over the strategic management of scarce health resources,” said Dr McGarry.

When GPs read of promises like these being made, our hearts sink, because we know that the service is already fragile and we despair that people who should know better don’t seem to care.

“Any talks on potential extensions to the service must take into account capacity and adequate resourcing.”

Mr Harris said the decision to provide free GP care to all under-13s and to increase access to medical cards for over-70s reflected the Government’s commitment to delivering healthcare for all.

“We remain determined to ensure that cost should not be a prohibiting factor in children accessing appropriate healthcare, when and where they require it, and this decision is a significant step towards meeting that goal,” he said.

He added that the planned legislation would allow GP care without fees to be extended to six- and seven-year-olds this year, with extension of GP care without fees to all children under 13 in the years ahead.