Doctor shortage will 'undermine' GP visit card expansion

GPs have also warned about the impact of the expanded scheme, with Killarney GP Gary Stack telling the Irish Examiner that he expected to see a waiting list created within his own practice.

The staffing crisis in general practices across the country will “undermine” the planned expansion of GP visit cards, a leading children's charity has warned

The expansion of GP visit cards to children aged six and seven, as well as for adults who earn less than the median income, was announced last month by Health Minister Stephen Donnelly, and will begin on September 11.

It is expected that an additional 430,000 cards will be give to adults and an extra 70,000 to children aged six and seven. Parents can submit applications for eligible children from August 11.

While the Government had initially promised to expand GP cards to children aged up to 12, Mr Donnelly confirmed that it would be the final expansion of the scheme within this Government.

However, the CEO of Barnardos, Suzanne Connolly, has raised concerns about the expansion, saying that the ongoing shortage of GPs will potentially undermine the benefit for families.

“The lack of GPs both in rural and urban areas is undermining and will continue to undermine the positive impact of these new entitlements,” Ms Connolly said.

Her comments were echoed by Susanne Rogers of Social Justice Ireland, who questioned the expansion if GPs are not able to access resources to reach the expected increase in demand for their services.

“It’s all very well saying we have expanded the eligibility, but it needs to be financed and resourced properly to be impactful,” Ms Rogers said.

GPs have also warned about the impact of the expanded scheme, with Killarney GP Gary Stack telling the Irish Examiner that he expected to see a waiting list created within his own practice.

“It’s going to create a waiting list that wasn’t there before,” Mr Stack said, saying he expects to see a big surge in demand in the coming months. He said that as many GPs are currently not accepting new patients, there is a lack of capacity for the additional GP visit cards.

Meanwhile, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said that there are significant numbers of people who are yet to access a GP visit card, despite being eligible. Mr Varadkar said that there were thousands of people who are eligible for a means-tested GP card but who had not accessed one.

He confirmed that the Government intended to launch a campaign to improve take-up in the near future.

“We're going to have a big campaign to let people know that they're now entitled to a GP visit card. because a lot of people won't realize that. The take up is far from 100%, it's 100% for the over-70s and under-sixes, but for the means-tested element, it's only about 70 or 80%,” Mr Varadkar told the media in interview earlier this month.

“So we really want to make sure that the 400,000 or 500,000 people who are going to have free GP care for the first time this year know about it."

Despite criticism over the lack of GPs in some parts of the country, Ms Connolly said it was positive that the Government intended to introduce an awareness campaign.

“It is likely that some families don’t know what they are entitled to,” Ms Connolly said. “It is positive that the Government plans to make families aware of their new entitlements in relation to GP care.”