Doctors give thumbs down to Under 6 free care
Only two per cent of family doctors in Connacht have signed the contract to provide free medical care to children aged under six as the May 27 deadline approaches.
Some 29% remain unsure about signing according to a survey conducted by the National Association of General Practioners (NAGP) carried out last week among 1,048 GPs nationally.
Only 2.36% of GPs in Connacht have signed up to the scheme. Only 21% said they planned to sign by the deadline and 23% said they would sign over the next three months, far short of the minimum threshold of 40% set by the Minister for Health Leo Varadkar.
Nearly one in four say they will definitely not be signing the contract before May 27 – and 23% will not be signing long-term.
Of the unsure group, over half indicated they are more likely not to sign than to sign.
The scheme has the backing of the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) but not the NAGP.
The NAGP said it would test the legality of the new HSE contract in the High Court, challenging the rule that GPs who do not sign the under-sixes contract will automatically lose existing patients with a medical card or GP visit card.
The scheme is due to come into effect in July, benefiting an estimated 270,000 children. The scheme will provide for a new “cycle of care” for children with asthma involving structured visits and an individualised asthma plan for parents. All children will receive two “wellness” checks, at ages two and five, to monitor height and weight.
Dr Andy Jordan, chairman of the NAGP said the deal amounts to medical apartheid, motivated by election votes rather than real patient need.
“We have 5,000 deaths per year in Ireland from cardiovascular disease but there is no money to provide free GP care to those patients,” he said.
“The proposal will fuel the inequalities that already exist in our health service. The asthma scheme will only be available to children between two and four; the diabetes scheme will only be available to people who already qualify for a medical card or doctor only card; the under-6s scheme will not cover medicines, x-rays, blood tests, A&E visits. It is simply a smoke and mirrors political stroke.”
The scheme is tipped to cost €90m annually.
It will be up to each individual GP to decide to participate in it. In cases where a GP did not sign up to providing free care for children under six, parents would have to find a doctor who was in the system in order to get the free services.
GPs will be paid a capitation fee of €125 a year for each child under the new scheme, which in reality amounts to €216 per patient when additional payments such as practice supports, medical indemnity and special type consultations were taken into account, according to the IMO.