to think that doc apps should be free for all kids under 2

[scuzy]

so sick of paying for doc visits for my son who 9 timesouta 10 its teething but obviously want to know for sure. 50 quid a go is alot of money!!! i cant afford it. we mums just want reassurance why cant the nurse do it!

Scuzy, I live in Dublin and I totally agree with you on all this. It is a bloody disgrace how we are fleeced left, right and centre by doctors, consultants, obgyns, etc, etc. Greedy fuckers the lot of them.

In the last 18 months on top of having a baby I have broken my foot, then my finger and have been diagnosed with a chronic health condition, requiring referral to the pack of vultures calling themselves healthcare professionals. Professional scammers more like - 220 euros to see a plastic surgeon to tell me my finger had reset fine and no nerve damage? Thanks. 250 euros to see a foot consultant (forget his real title, perhaps it was Mr Bastard-Face?) to tell me that he wasn't the right person to help me? And he still charged? No wonder these guys make 250 grand a year.

Ireland is fucked. The 50 euros for the GP is just the tip of the iceberg.

Sorry for all the bad language.

dh wanted to move to ireland. thank god we didn't, i had no idea the healthcare system was so bad i assumed it would be like the UK system.

pmsl @ Mr Bastard-Face

Goodness! I never knew you had to pay for doc visits in Ireland! That is awful and wrong!
Who thought of this and especially paying for kids to see the doc! That is scandalous!

How much does it cost to have a baby in Ireland?
Just out of interest.

We paid 4,500 euros, we went privately (first baby, didn't know any better, won't do again). For that you got a monthly ultrasound in the obgyn's fancy offices, a quick reassuring chat with him and absolutely no guarantee that he would be there on the actual day. You also had no promise of a private room, but were pretty much sure to be spared the much-touted horrors of the public ward. I spent the first night in a semi-private room (4 women & babies) and then 2 nights in a private room for which the health insurance paid 950 euros per night. I'm not even kidding.

By the way, the 4,500 was what we paid, apparently the health insurance company paid something too but I can't remember what. It's SO not worth it. I feel sick when I think of what we could have done with that money.

I know you can go public which means a midwife-led birth which I would have been happy with but I just didn't want to face what sounded to me like hell on the public wards. Buzz, you did it on public, what was it like?

I had all of my children using the free public maternity services.

I attended a high risk consultant, had excellent care and service (with 2 & 3).

The wards were awful, with DS I found myself in a semi private ward which was lovely, but I discharged myself very quickly after each of them anyway.

scuzy,why do you think it should be free for under 2's? why not under 5's or under 10's etc?

we had midwife led (and she was fab) but paid for the semi private room (or VHI did) - 2 nights so can't comment on the public wards.

Did have a very strange midwife standing in about 2 weeks before DD was born who claimed that DP's 'very short legs' would mean that she would have a terrible, long, painful labour resulting in a c-section . Ha ha ha 4 hours unmedicated, get you...

Oh god, sorry OP, I didn't mean you were getting arsey - I meant the "England are paying for Scotland and Wales to get special treatment" rhetoric further down the boards... I don't blame you for feeling annoyed in the slightest, you haven't once complained about what someone else gets/ has got and aren't being any possible definition of an arse! Sorry, btw, I agree with you.

When I said taxes were lower in Ireland I meant overall what people paid, not the actual tax rate. It's lower because the tax-free allowance is much higher - was around 18k though think it has come down a bit recently. That was nearly double what it was in UK & obv lots of low earners would end up not paying tax - I saw a figure recently that said only 45% of workers pay tax?

So as others have said, the money raised through tax overall is not enough to fund something like the NHS. I was unaware that council tax & water rates had been reintroduced though I know it's on the cards - or did you mean the charges for refuse collection? That's still lower than here - I pay over 200 a month on council tax & water...

Yes it is ?50 to see a GP in Ireland and prescriptions are usually quite expensive too.Hospitals are ?100 A&E attendence.

We pay water charges, but are on a private water scheme - I don't think anyone on the mains pays for water.

I think it's also ?75 per day for hospital now too - DD cost us ?375 last year and DH had to have a minor procedure for which we got a bill for ?75 before Christmas.

Water charges are routine in Scotland - It is billed with Council Tax. If you have a private water supply the water charge is deducted.

My brothers DS has Downs Syndrome.He is now waiting almost 3 years for speech therapy because the SLT in the area has been on maternity leave twice and they are not allowed to hire maternity cover.

This is echoed across Ireland.From a shortage of Dentists to over worked MW's.
There is no health service in Ireland,it is nothing but a joke.

Yes, we pay about the same. $100 US for a consult here (West Indies)

I'm extremely happy that neither DS nor I are ever ill, becase I lost my health insurance when I left my full-time work after he was born. The fees for ante-natal care for DC2 are crippling.

I find the apparent impending destruction of the NHS really alarming and dreadful. Having lived with and without it, I know which I'd rather!

When my children were small, scuzy, I had a trail worn to the doctors - and a big hole in my bank account where my money used to be! I'm in Ireland too.

The only good part about it is claiming back tax on it, it can seem like a windfall after the Christmas!