Dr Hilary Jones - Ireland has no health service

[LadyEloise]

I'm cross. I'm very cross !
How can an educated man, a medic, state that the country next to his has no health service on national television.
A country that shares a border with the UK ( Northern Ireland ).
In reply to Piers Morgan about countries using different strategies to cope with the pandemic, Dr Hilary Jones says that Ireland has to do what its doing because it has no health service.

That is simply not true.

We have the Health Service Executive, with about 100,000 employed in it. Much of it is free. GP visits and prescription charges are means tested. All children under 6 and pensioners over 70 have free HP care.
He did apologise on Twitter but I think, to reach a wider audience he needs to go back on the show and state the facts.
Our Prime Minister is a medical doctor.
We have a national health service. There is a free Breast Check, Cervical check,Immunisations for children and teenagers, Bowel screening etc.

What a shame neither of the two presenters , Piers or Susanna Reid could refute his claims at the time.

It appears that Dr Hillary Jones is a dickhead

It sounds like a good system in theory if you are on a public waiting list it is horrendous, years waiting, it forces people to pay for a private consultant to skip that part of the list, the people who can't afford a consultant are pushed further back.
My Dsis waited 3 years to see a consultant for her DC tonsils on public, she saw a private consultant for €300 to confirm an operation was required, then went back public. She was a year after that, my cousin waited 7 years.
To many people die who are just over the threshold but don't have €60 hanging around for a gp visit.

Dramadrama
Very well said. Couldn't agree more.

It can just get very annoying hearing many uneducated assumptions from our nearest neighbours sometimes.

I haven't seen this but I'm English living in Ireland and this is simple not the case.
As some posters have said it is means tested, for very low income earners and the unemployed there is the medical card which entitles them to free GP visit and a small fee I think towards prescriptions.
There is also the GP card again means tested which entitles the person to a free GP visit but they would pay full price for prescriptions.
Then there are the other half who pay full whack for any GP visit, my doctor charges €55 per visit and €40 for a repeat visit within two weeks for same condition.
I pay €40 for a child visit.
If I go to A &E it's €100 charge I haven't been in a while so could of increased.

It doesn't matter what Dr. Hilary thinks, or what any british person knows or doesn't know about Ireland, he was on a national tv programme, being asked for his expert opinion as a doctor on a virus that is sweeping across the world, he should know his bloody facts.

He should have researched first, I thought Piers or Suzanna would know.

It can just get very annoying hearing many uneducated assumptions

I know, we are so near and yet so far away sometimes, when it comes to understanding our closest neighbour.

He said it's largely a private service and you pay your GP every time you see them.

A large percentage (not sure of the exact number but think it's around 40%) of the population have medical cards which gives them completely free medical care, GP, prescriptions etc. This is means tested. Another large cohort (over 70's and under 6's) have GP only cards regardless of income, so GP visits are free but they pay for prescriptions up to a maximum amount every month. Everyone has a cap on prescriptions, over which they are reimbursed by the health service.

Everyone is entitled to free hospital treatment, although many opt to go private. If you haven't been referred to A&E by a doctor, a visit costs something like €100 if you don't have a medical card but I'm not sure how well they follow up on payment. All other treatment within hospital is free unless you opt to go private. Everyone is entitled to see a consultant without charge under the public system. However, as you can be waiting a while for some things (generally you will be seen very quickly if it's something urgent such as suspected cancer), many opt to go private for non-life threatening issues.

So no, it's not largely a private system. It's a public/private system. Unlike the stories you read on here of having to wait weeks for an appointment with a GP, I've only ever had to wait until the following day at the latest and if it's urgent, the GP will fit you in the same day.

Frankly, I've often thought the NHS will have to move to something similar to the Irish system. I don't see the objection to people paying to be seen (means-tested, exemptions for vulnerable groups, etc). IF you can pay £30 for your nails you can pay to have your tonsils examined.

I don't know anyone who has a medical card. I am self employed (aka invisible) and i pay private health insurance and €50 every time I or my children see a GP with a charge of €170 every time I see a specialist.

The NHS it ain't! Also our minimum prescription fee is €130 a month (so you will never have to pay over €130 in a month for prescriptions. My DH's inhaler is €84 a month).

But yes, we do have free pregnancy care, smear tests, breast checks and vaccinations in fairness. Oh and very recently free GP care for under 6's.

€50 a pop for a GP visit and €140 for trip to a&e is an effective deterrent to using either unless your leg is falling off.

Does he know where Ireland is?

Thing is, I don't think they CAN test everyone. There aren't enough testing kits or people to do the tests and it would mean that people needing testing for other serious conditions, like TB, would be put at risk.

I find it personally very frustrating as we are in isolation because my adult son, back from college, might have a CV cough. Or might not. If we knew for sure that he had had CV he could then go out and about and help my elderly mother without fear of passing the virus on.

Yea we just pray the coronavirus away.
FFS.

He did apologise and make a correction this morning. He explained what he’d meant to say.

@Smithesque - I don't know anyone who has a medical card.

That's common enough though. We all tend to socialise with people from similar enough backgrounds. While I don't have a medical card, my sister has. She knows loads of people with them. I don't.

He's an arse, of course the Republic has a health service, what does he thinks being going on all this time! And yes most of it is free/highly subsidised and very, very good!! Dick head.

No one in DH’s family gets free treatment and they are not wealthy, just quite ordinary jobs. We even had to pay towards his elderly Mums treatment whose only income is from a pension otherwise she would be waiting forever. DH is diabetic and would have to pay for his drugs if he still lived in Ireland, he has a medical exemption here.

There is no free health system in the world. It is just a matter of where it is paid for.

The ratio in Ireland of public funding of health to private is around 2 to 1 which is similar to Canada and Australia and Belgium but a lower ratio than most EU Countries. UK about 4 to 1.

The total spending on health per person in Ireland is in the top third in all developed Countries and significantly above UK.
There is no denial of service depending on means in Ireland. Nobody is checked if they can pay the 120 fee for A and E before admitting. All financial side is done after any treatment. The absolutely max you will ever pay for long term treatment is 150 each night to a Max of 3 nights if you are in hospital, plus maybe a 120 fee if you went through A and E. If you were ref from GP at a cost of around 100 on seeing them, the A and E fee is not charged.
Nearly all health indicator outcomes in Ireland are in the top third of EU data for good outcomes and some significantly better than UK.
The main issue is the none acute treatment for chronic but not life threatening issues. You can wait along time for these and people pay to go private or have insurance. This is the same in UK.
You can now use state money to purchase your treatment outside the state if you have been waiting too long.
The system is not without issues but it is no worse than the NHS and signicantly better than numerous other health systems in the developed world.

DH is diabetic and would have to pay for his drugs if he still lived in Ireland

My father is diabetic and has always gotten free drugs for it. He was always over any income thresholds for medical cards, grants etc so not income or age related.

That's good to know.

My diabetic DF doesn't pay for any treatment, no-one I know in Ireland with any kind of chronic condition pays for anything to do with that condition.
It;s not perfect, as no health system is, but it is very, very good, fair and affordable and if we lose the NHS in the UK I's rather we have the Irish health system than the USA one.

Tbf the public vs private in Ireland forces families who really can't afford to go private beg borrow or steal. I've spent a small fortune with a big impact on our weekly household fund.
I don't know the numbers but a huge about of medical professionals are sharing their time and skills in the private and public sector. Less time for public patients.
I'm not sure about cancer patients when I had a suspected lump I was 9 months in total waiting from consultation referral to MRI referral to biopsy publicly. It was a long time to me.

So true @Dramadrama

Idiots in Denmark are also stealing handgel and face masks from hospitals, sadly stupidity and selfishness transcends national boundaries.

Everyone is entitled to free hospital treatment, although many opt to go private. If you haven't been referred to A&E by a doctor, a visit costs something like €100 if you don't have a medical card but I'm not sure how well they follow up on payment. All other treatment within hospital is free unless you opt to go private

Not the point of the thread really but this is not true. It’s €80 a night for a hospital stay. It does cap at a certain amount but I recently had to pay €400.