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I litterally have to be on the way out before I could justify spending €50 going to the doc. Mind you an elderly aunt of mine has a medical card and she is in the doctors nearly every week with either a cold/ flu or some other sort of trivial aliment. At one point we were speculating she’d be invited to the staff Christmas party.
4 trips to my GP – nothing sorted, minus €200
I looked up my symptoms online, – cost me nothing, The diagnosis was ‘plantar fasciitis’ – damaged tendons in my right foot, after a very bad sprain, I went to my chemist, who is excellent, – sorted me with inserts for shoes & appropriate meds. Problem solved for < €25.
Had that for 17 years, never seen a gp for it, got special inserts for my shoes. I’ll only go to the gp if I’m really sick or for contraception.
Karla, – did you have it for 17 years before diagnosis, – or have you been suffering with it for 17yrs. since it was diagnosed…..??
- just worried, it should be sorted within a year, at most…
I had it for 14 years before I got what I needed of the internet and self diagnosed, since using the inserts / rollingsoft shoes / crocs and runners with supports I no longer get any pain. I couldn’t walk when I got out of bed, the pain was unreal (like treading on a 8 inch dagger with every foot step). I would get it through the day sometimes as well. I would have to hold onto something to help take the weight off my feet. I would have to bum down the stairs as I couldn’t put the weight on my feet to walk downstairs.
My mother referred to it as policeman’s foot, as the coppers on the beat in the uk used to suffer with it. I was 16 when I really started to suffer with it, i’m now 33. Pain free most of the time since I was 30 and self diagnosed. Now I can wear normal shoes but not all the time, if I stop using shoes with plantar support for too long the pain comes back and its worse if I wear flat shoes.
My mom and brother also suffer with it and both theirs were diagnosed by a gp, they say it runs in families.
@ Francie. Would you not look for a refund ? Would you pay a mechanic 4 times and then fix a car yourself ?
I’m sure they are not worried as I’m sure medical card holders keep them busy with visits, every time they get a runny nose.
I’m afraid I also suffer from a thing called ‘honour’
I’m one of those that don’t go! It’s not that I can’t afford it but I simply can’t justify the money. Understandable a GP has to make a living but it’s time to reduce the price to a manageable level, like 25 euro!! The one thing I hate is going to a GP knowing full well what is wrong, for them to confirm what u already know and you come out of there in less than five minutes being told to take paracetamol (20 cent) whenever the pain returns…50 euro please! That pains me more then the pain I have. On the flip side, it’s shocking that a child is not brought when needed… the doc should treat the kid regardless if they have any ounce of kindness and humanity.
If you know whats wrong why don’t you go straight to the chemist and buy paracetamol?
Neurofen plus cures everything, I can’t stand going to the doctor sittin there with hypochondriacs, unless absolutely necessary for example when you need antibiotics, chances are you’ll get a cold, sore throat or cough a few times in your life, over the counter products for these
I’m sure if there was a medical emergency, no medical professional would hesitate to treat a child, regardless of money. I so agree that GP costs are way too high, but you can’t expect them to treat children for free just because they’re children.
@ Gearóid: It was just an example. To give a more realistic example I have been suffering with severe inner ear pains from time to time. It came about out of the blue and has been hanging about causing me pain once a month. A quick shot of a saline wash and some solpadeine gets rid of any pains for another month. I can even go months without the pain surfacing and I know exactly what causes it. I know what’s wrong with me but at times I wish I could go to the doctor and have it sorted for good…but pain killers are 250 times cheaper then a Dr. I can’t exactly spend 50 euro in the republic, get a prescription and then spend another 20-50 on the exact medication I need. I know what medication I need and I know I can buy it abroad for 10 euro…it’s just a shame in my own country that affording to go to the doctor is a challenge.
@ Bronagh: You’re absolutely right, it shouldn’t be free just because it’s a child but I’m sure the doctor would be willing to allow multiple part payments until full payment is settled? Do they have a scheme in Ireland for this??
I had an ongoing problem with ear infections and had tried plenty of cures and various trips to the doctor to no avail.Until I made a little mixture of olive oil a few drops of tea tree oil and a clove of crushed garlic….rubbed it into my ears and was fully better in 2 days….brilliant.Have had no trouble since
My worry is that these days there’s more money in treating the symptoms than curing the illness. I was told I was suffering from depression and had loads of pills prescribed. They kept giving me stronger and stonger because they were not working until one day I had an epiphany. I realized in a moment of clarity that i wasn’t depressed, I was stressed out. There’s a huge difference. Told the doctor to keep the pills and haven’t looked back since. I still get stressed out but I can cope with it without half a pharmacy being thown at me. Everyone in the country regardless of finances should be entitled to fee gp visits. Just like in the UK. The major cost to the HSE is when ilnesses haven’t been diagnosed early enough.
Where is this universal health care Fine Gael promised us before the last election. Oh yes probably convenient forgotten about in the same burning the bondholders was.
Free GP visits became free in something like 1908 in then Britain. Except in Ireland, where doctors and the church got together to stop it happening. The NHS was born in post war austerity. There is no good reason to not have free GP care except vested interests. I am always amazed at the prevailing right wing thinking in Ireland about this stuff. Ireland is not the US, we are in Europe. I am always shocked by the outrage displayed about number of medical card holders. We should be outraged that everyone does not have one.
The good reason is that it would cost millions – not so possible when billions have to be cut from budgets.
Britain is a rarity in Europe. Most countries have a charge for doctor visits. Eg France, greatest system in the world, has a €23 standard charge, some of which gets reimbursed later.
Billions don’t ‘have’ to be cut from budgets. Billions NEED to be secured from our oil, gas and other resources and Ireland would be in a very advantageous position and well able to afford free medical care and education for all.
Funny how they politcians just can’t find the money when it comes to healthcare but a bank sneezes and they break open the national piggy bank and throw tens of billions at it. And this was all money we aparently didn’t have when healthcare needed it. If they wanted to they could find it!
In France the charge is indeed €23, but €19 is reimbursed, making the net cost only €4…
Here we go again, now everyone with a medical card is clogging up the GPs cause they’ve nothing better to do, I give up on this site and the intelligence of the contributors!
Diarmuid, it’s not that EVERYONE with a medical card is clogging up the surgeries, but a lot of people will have anecdotal evidence of people with medical cards doing so. A friend of a relation of mine has one, and she’s down to the doctor if she bangs her toe on the furniture. Seriously.
It’s wonderful not to have to think about cost – I know how it feels like because that’s the way it is in the UK, and I lived there for three years. It does make you more likely to pop into the surgery, and SOME people will abuse that fact. Most won’t. But it is annoying to see people like my relation’s friend in and out for every minor ailment just because she can.
What about my anecdotal evidence. Last year I spent over €1000 on GP visits alone while in the early stages of illness. I now just recently got a medical card as I got illness benefit and I try to use it as sparingly as possible as I am we’ll aware it’s not free but the state is picking up the tab. I’m certain there are thousands more like me!! But no one mentions those ppl, no just wheel out the usual ole populist nonsense!
But that’s what I said, Diarmuid. There are SOME people who abuse it, and many of us know or know of them. But most appreciate it and use it wisely.
I have a medical card and no.. We don’t go to the doctor for nothing. Last time i was there i had a large growth removed from my face. The medical card paid a large percentage of the fee thankfully.
I’m glad you’re a responsible user of a medical card, Dorothy. But you can’t speak for all medical card holders. I’m sure most users are like you, but there are people who abuse it. You can’t ignore that fact. Unfortunately they give the rest of you a bad name.
I appreciate that Grainne, and I know I shouldn’t take it personally but I kind of do when the ONLY contribution people make on here (not yourself of course) is to suggest that all medical card holders do is hold up the queues and waste doctors time. That is just wrong, it’s not fair to generalise like that! Personally speaking, I would love nothing more than to NOT have a medical card, cause it would mean I was 100% again, and there are many people much worse off than I with conditions who I am sure would feel the exact same so it’s offensive to them to suggest they are just “heading to the doctors for any ole bang”.
I agree, Diarmuid, that it’s not fair to tar everyone with the same brush; unfortunately those who abuse or take the medical card for granted are the ones we hear about, not the majority who respect it. That seems to be the way it goes in most areas of life.
I’m sorry that the reason you have a medical card is medical need, and I hope that at some time you won’t need it any more.
Yes Doctors are very expensive. Just for a five minute Consultation you pay 50 Euros. That is a lot of money out of the average persons budget. Then you have to get medicines on top of that.Doctors also charge 20 euros just to write a prescription. Like in the Buses with free pass it is the same with the medical card only people who have them can afford to go to the doctor more often. On the bus you will see that most of the passengers are free travel the fares are to high.I am making a comparison.
55 euro here for the last 2 years and 30 euro to get a certificate! Even at that price it is always booked out on the day we need to go.
Francis – spot on. But what needs tacking is why so many people have these cards and free travel. I know two women – husbands in very good jobs – with very minor illnesses. But because they’re on “invalidity” they also get free travel. It’s nuts.
Very few take 5 minutes, many take more, especially psychological consultations which can last up to an hour.
Only one third ?
Otherwise known as two thirds of the people who don’t have Medical Cards.
I just use the Internet , some great advice there…….you can even order the pills, never diiiiidddd mmee annyyyy hhhaarrrmmm, slurp .
Unless you’re on a medical card, then you can go for free every week! #moralhazardbehaviour #snifflesandnothingbettertodo
Completely agree – I too avoid going to the doc despite back pain; at €50 for a 3 min consultation (and by the way that’s the HSE guideline on time to be allocared per patient ref interview on Newstalk recently) indicates income of €1000 per hour! Yes they have to pay out some business expenses but don’t we all?! And we know that’ll only be the start of the cost. Next comes referrals to specialists, medication, physiotherapy and then you pay again when they get the diagnosis wrong or just to be given the results of tests that you have already paid for! The system doesn’t work! We have too many people unwell and untreated.
Ur back can’t be too bad if you manage to hobble into the GPs office and out again in 3 minutes…
For a three minute consultation, they would have to diagnose u as you open the door, write the prescription as walk to your chair, give it to u before u sit down, and spin u round to get u out in 180 seconds.
Has anyone ever watched an 80 year old man take off his jumper and shirt – that alone takes about 10 minutes before the doctor could have a listen to their chest.
Sorry but you are wrong about consult time, 10 mins is the average and if more time is needed, you will be given that time. My GP charges €30 for a child consult, and would be happy to wait for payment if the parent is under financial pressure. Shop around!
I used to do the same but then i moved to london- boom free world class treatment!
I went to the doctor the other day . He warned me to give up fries and beer .
I’m seeing another doctor today for a second opinion .
A side effect of people not being able to afford gd visits is a and e departmenys are being cloged up.ust be soul destroying to not to able to bring yiur child to a gp when yhey are sick. Government and james o reilly are a disgrace to be honest.
I think this is a disgrace that parents can’t afford to pay €50 for their SICK child to see a GP, enforce the children’s act and take these children of these so called “new age” parents. I got two children and I would pay €100 for them to seek medical help and not be lazy and blame “somebody else”. This is a very sad article indeed, and we need to draw more attention at this as I’m very sure it’s more then what the article has found out, not also this but education too I’m sure out there, there’s some “parents” won’t send their child to school because of books costs and blame the child benefit for it. Typical irishness always blaming “somebody else for their problems.” Here’s some advice to these “parents” , LOOK IN THE MIRROR there’s the problem.
It is not “new age” parents! Working families are crippled with large mortgages, taxes, bills, childcare costs etc. many families live within very strict budgets, €50 can be hard to get, food and other bills will not be paid for to cover the cost of a gp. My child was sick recently a week before payday, we both work, I had to take money from my child’s savings account to pay for this. It’s embarrassing and depressing.
Guldir: what a sweeping generalism. And untrue as well. I am not new age (far from it) and I have a daughter with a heart condition, my partner & I have skipped visits to the doctor and dentists for ourselves so we can pay for her medicines. We both work, we do not have a mortgage but we just don’t earn enough! And I know we are not in the worst case scenario. It was a very unfair comment from you.
Only the other day the Minster for Health said he hope to have free GP. care for every child in the Country as a start to free GP care for everyone.Hopefully he will follow up on that.
Be happy you have €100 to pay out every time you take your kids to the doctor. What on earth are you talking about when you say “new age” parents? For the vast majority of parents, fifty or sixty quid a pop is a lot of money out of an average wage packet to pay out. Some kids get sick a lot, you could end up spending hundreds in one month, not to mention the medications.
In my opinion, every child under the age of 16 should have free GP care. Children are too precious to mess around with their lives and health
You are either a troll or an idiot.
I think you’re being a bit harsh- I’m sure if they had the money they would take them. The point of the article is the parents haven’t got the money to spend even if they wanted to. Must parents I know would sacrifice luxuries for necessities.
I also think that its a disgrace that parent can’t afford to bring their sick children to the doctor – but if you think that a parent makes the the decision not to bring their child to the doctor due to laziness or being ‘new age’ – I think you need to stop and think for a moment – there are lots of parents out there struggling with childcare, mortgages and getting through the day to day and a €50 unexpected bill means something has to go – food, gass bill etc. – there are very few parents out there who would NOT take a sick child to a doctor if financial constraints were not an issue.
I’m asthmatic and need to get my prescription renewed every 6 months. Because apparently in Ireland, they think people are going to abuse asthma inhalers? So that’s just extra money I don’t have, to go to the doctor and ask him to rewrite the same prescription I’ve been on for 20 years.
Or, you know, I can just stop breathing.
Sometimes, friends who are going to Spain or Portugal pick me up the no-prescription-necessary €3 inhalers there. Which admittedly aren’t as good, but they’re €13 cheaper and without the €50 I have to pay to get the prescription renewed, it’s a pretty good compromise.
Just back from Spain, bought myself a few Ventalin inhalers for 4euro each. I haven’t gone to the doctor for a prescription in years. It’s a disgrace that you can’t get them over the counter here.
As bad as the situation may be with doctors, I’m sure there are much less making trips to the dentist.
What’s a dentist?
We don’t need free GP care just reasonable fee’s, the problem with the system we have now is that GP has a lucrative stream of medical card holders that are registered to a particular practice, they can charge what they like for private patients because there is no competition.
Troika insisted in lowering of doctor and legal fees here three years ago but nothing has happened.
Doctors fees have been cut by up to 40% depending on the patient demographic through FEMPI legislation over successive budgets as recommended by the Troika . Trust me I know all about cuts . Oliver White gave a very detailed breakdown in the thread . Costs vary country wide . A significant no of newly qualified and established GPs are emigrating and there is a significant cohort who will retire in the next ten years or so . There are enormous inequities with how the medical card system is currently administered . It’s the middle classes that are unjustifiably suffering because they have to pay for everything . I am in favour of free healthcare but we will all pay heavily for that in our taxes somehow or other that is the elephant in the room that the government will not tell anyone about . With manpower shortages that will result in waiting lists for GPs.
I will have to take your word Connor as its about two years since I was in a doctors, I will be pleasantly surprised if the fee has dropped from fifty to thirty euro
Paid €18 to my Doctor in Mumbai on http://www.healthcaremagic.com/
Illness solved: Lactose intolerance.
I haven’t been to a Doc in years. Simply cant afford it.
@ R Neuville, I can’t afford a doctor in Munster never mind Mumbai!
Bet you could afford to go to the doctor as much as you wanted if you had a medical card….oh wait you probably don’t “qualify”…
Beat me to it Jimmy. €50 to €60 per visit if you don’t have the Gold Card. The amount of people on them is incredible.
Unfortunately I have a job.
The problem is that going to a doctor is expensive – everywhere. It would be nice if someone else paid for it (medical card/NHS), but it is not free. If all children get a medical card – that means the children of bankers, pat kenny, and others on large salaries GP care paid by all taxpayers.
“despite soaring costs” – this rubbish article doesn’t mention changes in GP fees. It veers from the fact that people without medical cards can’t afford to see their doctor, to this rubbish, to an advertisement for some insurance. I think that most GPs have kept their fees unchanged-they’re well aware that people have difficulty paying.
If GPs were making so much money, there would be lots more if them and people wouldn’t have to wait for 5 days for an appointment. People don’t want to realise that the 50€ they pay for an expert opinion goes to rent, etc etc. how much does an electrician or plumber cost?
In addition, medical expenses are tax deductible, making the final cost probably about 30€.
Same bankers etc will be entitled to medical card when they hit 70. When it was proposed that the medical card for the over 70′s be means tested the whole country was in arms, and the government did a u turn. But then the children don’t vote, unlike the OAP. How about this – everybody pays 5 euro for a gp visit, the rest is covered by the PRSI. The fiver is to stop people from clogging the surgeries for trivial complaints.
What about dentists I’m sure the occurrence of avoidance would be much higher. People generally only go to dentists when in agony. Cheaper to go abroad…
I’m from Belfast and have lived in England and far prefer the system in the republic. In the UK, it may be free but you could be waiting an hour and a half if you’re lucky enough to get an appointment, or you ring for an appointment and are made to wait days which defeats the purpose. I didn’t know what good G.P care was until I moved here. Honestly, in the UK, they peer over the desk at you and quickly write a prescription, they barely touch you with a barge pole, never mind a proper examination. When I moved here eight years ago, I couldn’t believe how my new G.P listened to me, did a proper examination and I never felt rushed even with a waiting room full of people. Maybe I have just been lucky and have an amazing G.P. I wish my family in the north could have the same care as me. Admittedly €55 is a lot and I do only go if I’m dying! but I wouldn’t like any changes if it affected my current level of care.
There are waiting times and queues in doctor’s surgeries here too, Olivia. I’d rather wait an hour and a half and not have to shell out fifty quid. You admit you only go “if you’re dying”; that’s what most people who have to pay do, with the result that it often costs them, and the health system more in the long run, because conditions go undiagnosed or untreated for too long.
I appreciate there are queues here too.. I have waited, but just never as long as I have had to wait in N.Ireland or England.
I agree with everything you say. I’m just giving another perspective as someone who had experienced the UK system.
No, the queues are shorter here. But I’ve lived in the UK and used the NHS system, and even thought it can be frustrating, the fact that it’s free is a huge bonus. You don’t have to think about and put off going to the doctor because you can’t afford it.
Wait till you need to see a specialist in this country , because you can’t sleep for example. 18months and still waiting. You tell a doctor in the uk you cant sleep and you’ll be seen within a few days, for free.
Yup. Again I agree with you. But the NHS is going to collapse. I’d love free GP visits but it’s just not going to happen.
I wonder why my father is waiting about a year (in norn iron) for his new knee as a semi-private patient.. The grass is always greener.
The NHS is going to collapse through mismanagement, not because the basic idea isn’t viable. But it is a huge burden on the state, so maybe a compromise would be to subsidise GP visits. Let people pay, say, €20 and the state could pay the rest.
I have a few friends who do a monthly payment of 30 euro and can go as little or as often as they like to a gp in a private practice
Well if you can’t accept my statement that “new age” parents are just being lazy and about €50 to get themselves up off the arses, then don’t have a child. I can’t believe you lot this morning are not agreeing with me in saying that if the parents who are the protectors and guardians of the child cannot pay €50 because of “somebody else” enforce the children’s act. and the child off them. If a GP visit costs 200 I’d pay. Simple solutions don’t have a child. With a. Child comes responsibility!
Guldir, I don’t even know what “new age” parents are, so it’s hard to know what on earth you’re talking about.
I get the sentiment; I don’t get why people would have children already knowing how much GP visits cost and then expect free healthcare once they’re born. Seems risky and irresponsible to me.
Id pay it too buddy, if i had it, but i dont, maybe u can pull €50 from the air anytime u need it but nobody else can….. Ye tool
Dave, I don’t think he/she is saying that they’re made of money and can pluck it from thin air, rather that they’re acknowledging that a child is the sole responsibility of the parent and that the parent should not automatically expect the state/anybody else to pay for their physical wellbeing.
No bronagh….health care is only for the single rich people??
I don’t know if you’re asking a question or stating a fact or what your point is, Ryan.
I’m assuming you don’t have children from your comments!
You obviously live a fabulous life, have never encountered death, illness, job loss, a relationship breaking down etc.
in your world there would be very few children, so who would provide services to you when you are older?
Making very personal assumptions and remarks that are both unnecessary and completely unrelated to the topic. Insufferable fool.
Bronagh, it’s easy to say “don’t have kids if you can’t afford them”. Most people’s kids go through their childhoods with little or no illness, but some kids are sickly, and sicknesses get passed from child to child. A parent can land up with a bill of several hundred euro a month for doctor’s bills. That’s on top of normal household costs.
If you have kids and you haven’t had the misfortune to have had them sick a lot, be grateful. But try putting yourself in someone else’s shoes for a change.
Parents should expect help in maintaining the physical wellbeing of their children. They are taxpayers and citizens. Nobody gets anything for free, someone pays, but no parents should have to shell out hundreds of euro a month for medical care. They could have an upper limit, like they have for medicine, where you could claim back anything you spend on GP’s visits over €100 for children, for example. That would be a compromise.
Eh my dear, by referring to others as insufferable fool for stating they are assuming something, is an assumption they are a fool!
As a working parent, I am sick to death of this “don’t have kids if you can’t afford it” bashing, usually linked to the dont have kids if you have to put them in creche!
It’s not like we are all having 8 kids and expecting council housing and social welfare! I don’t expect free healthcare for my children, but at least reasonably priced doctors fees -if I bring 2 kids to a doctor it’s €110 euro, to usually be told its a viral infection, and I know many parents face this.
Did the survey include or exclude those on a medical card? It makes no sense to include them in a survey for something that clearly does not apply to them as their GP visits are ‘free’ however if you have done so it is not app able to speak about 1/3 of Irish people as a large proportion are excluded by definition.
I went to the doctor during the week. I haven’t been to him before and i went because I don’t live near my GP anymore. It was 40 euro to book an appointment online which I thought wasn’t bad. I went about a problem I was having with my ears. He still ended up charging me 50 because he charged me another 10 because he done a swab test in my nose to make sure the issue wasn’t anything to do with that. They’ll still get you.
PS . hate having to pay extra for care doc. Kids always seem to be sick out of hours and excuse me but why do they all have to have Saturdays off..(.really wanted swear) like banks ? People can’t afford to take a day off work.
Because GPs deserve a life too?
Or would you prefer the single-handed GP stay open 24/7, for free?
I start seeing patients at 8 am officially we close the door at 6 realistically it can be nearly 7 in the summer and 8 pm in the winter before I get home , I do an estimate of 10 hours paper work and admin per week in addition to face to face consultation that is over 50 sometimes 60 with day work plus I have on call commitments as you outlined .I pay 350 euro per month to pay for the infrastructure of the out of hours service to provide care for my patients when I am not on . I do not have resources to work on sat even if I was allowed to which I am not because of the existence of an out of hours service .
I think its disgraceful having to pay to visit a GP. Since moving to the UK, I’ve realised how much fairer the system here is. Free GP visits and prescriptions cost £7.50 regardless of the medicine. I was speaking to my mam last week who’d just spent almost €90 on anti-biotics plus €50 for a GP visit. I’d been to the GP here the same week; GP visit was free and the prescription cost me €7.50, in Ireland that visit and prescription would have set me back over €100. I wouldn’t have bothered going and probably would have got sicker. Free health care is not an “entitlement”, its a human right. I also don’t have a problem with paying slightly higher tax if it means free universal health care.
No doubt this will be an unpopular post but I just have to defend GPs. I know that 50 to 60 euro is a lot of money for many people and when I was out of work the costs of my medicines and visits to doctors were crippling. However, I don’t lay blame with the GPs. I blame the government. A few of my close friends are GPs. They work from around 8.30am to 9pm, 5 days a week. They are exhausted, have no life outside work and can barely pay their mortgages (on modest apartments). The stress they’re under is shocking and I assure you they are not living lives of luxury. Apparently they have to pay thousands each month in medical insurance, they legally have to pay D-docs type services to cover their weekends, they have loads of other overheads too (practice rent, property insurance, nurses and secretaries salaries, etc.). Many GP practices around the country are, or soon will be, closing down as the GPs are making a loss. The government certainly needs to help those who can’t afford to see a GP but I assure you that doctors (those I know at least) are not charging excessively in relation to the amount of work they do and net salary they receive.
Are you for real ? Hold on, we’ll organise a whip-round for your poor doctor friends….
Last time I went, I had saved up three ailments, and made the doc check ‘em one by one for the same price, saved a hundred quid, but NOT the way to go.
No Doctor would refuse to see a sick child would they?
No Doctor would refuse to see a sick child even if they knew they wouldn’t get paid, would they?
My gp saw my daughter in the out of hours clinic. He called my daughter as soon as she arrived, did a urine test and sent her straight to hospital, she was going into a coma, he phoned home to let me know the situation (my daughters dad took her to the clinic) and phoned the hospital to let them know what they should expect. He never charged us.
Why should they!? Think they spent years working their arses off in university for the laugh!?
So you think it’s ok if a doctor refuses to see a sick child if there is no money available to pay him/her?
That was a medical emergency. He did the morally right thing.
I’ve already said earlier in this thread that I don’t think any medical professional would refuse to treat a child in a medical emergency, so obviously it depends what you mean by sick, but this thread seems to be overrun by parents with a sense of entitlement who expect something for nothing.
Yeah right again bronagh……why treat sick people when you can treat rich sick people. The stupidity of your brazen comments is astounding.
Oh, now I think I understand your comment earlier, you assume that I’m rich because I don’t believe in getting something for nothing? You, sir, are an idiot.
Don’t abuse my medical card but some do because our surgery is always full. Deffo wouldn’t go unless badly needed, last time was for an ear infection.
I’d say there’s a few doctors hanging round this thread too…
I only go to my GP when I absolutely have to and, like most of the people here, my main reason is cost. I simply can’t afford the €50+ per 5 minute visit…Unfortunately, I have been on medication for Blood Pressure and Asthma for over 10 years so my GP insists on at least one visit that is basically for a prescription (which he only gives me for 6 months)…This means that when I want a repeat prescription I have to shell out an additional €25 for someone to open the last prescription on the PC, change the date and hit Print…At times I really think this whole thing is a money racket…
Another issue is the contempt with which people visiting GPs are treated…I always try to get a first appointment of the day; 9.00 a.m…I arrive at 8.50 and consider myself lucky to be the first to see the doc at 9.15…This is not because he is out on a house call (he has always been in his office before I arrive)…If I am paying mega bucks for 5 to 10 minutes of his time, surely I should be seen on time…Rant over!!!
The modern doctor over charges for a service that most no nothing about, they depend on drug companies to tell them what to push and get rewarded for their efforts, it is time that they were controlled and serious questions have to be asked how they can charge extorshionist prices, there was a time there was a family doctor not any more. There determination to put people 40 and over on statins, is a time bomb ready to explode.
Aubrey, a few years ago a proposal to give GPs a wage was made but dropped rapidly when it was pointed out that they might work from 9 to 5, get all the civil servant perks, and minimise their workload (see the minimum number of patients daily) and generally adopt the efficiency of the civil service.
I’d say there’s a couple of doctors too….
The last time I went to my GP he asked me what I thought may be wrong with me! Google search was more helpful and cost me nothing
They ask what you think to find out what you’re worried about, not to work out the diagnosis.
No point telling you it’s the sniffles if your only thought is that it’s cancer.
How much were the journal paid by GP Now to publish this nonsense “survey”? One-third of irish people were not surveyed. Maybe one-third of the sample survey said that. Lazy journalism passed off as a serious article. GP Now should just place an advert in the Journal like most other companies trying to get one over on their competitors.
It’s a sad situation when there are sick kids out there who cant go to the doctor because their parents can’t afford it.
Where are all these cheap 50 euro a visit doctors anyway ? Mine is 60.
have your say