Ireland - GP prices around the country

[Isittimef0rbedyet]

Just curious to hear what GPs around the country (Ireland) charge?

I paid €50 for a visit last week. GP didnt know what was wrong so no treatment/advice at that appt.
This week it turned into something else so I went back again. €30 for a follow up and I was prescribed antibiotics. Had to pay and extra €10 on top of this for a cert for work. The doctor typed and printed the cert at the same appt and before this would have been included in the cost.

Are others paying similar for follow ups and paying for certs on top of the appt?

Just curious really.

I have health insurance so can claim it back next year.

I'm so glad children can visit the GP for free now. I remember when DS was a baby, he had regular chest infections. We were really struggling for money at that point and had to wait until pay day to be able to take him to the doctor.

@DramaAlpaca ah we'll let you away with it!!

@Runorsleep I honestly don't think that most people have issues with paying for their gp. My parents have it free my child with additional needs has it free so no issue with paying to see my gp when we have a good income. However a&e is a whole separate issue and I'd never even put them into a similar category.

I honestly don't think that most people have issues with paying for their gp.
there is a group between people who have medical cards and those who have a good disposable income and we occupied it for a number of years. Every time the kids were sick we had discussions on whether we could afford the doctor and then then the prescription. I would say a huge amount of people in Ireland are in this category

We fall into this group too. Dh has a long term health issue and between meds and gp visits it costs us a fortune. Our GP is €50 and bloods are €25. A nurses app is €30. Prescription is €20.

Some months dh needs a GP visit and weekly nurses visits. That's almost €200 for visits and then €80 on top for meds every month. It's a big chunk to pay out.

Me too 🙂

And now with other rising costs, everyones disposable income will be that bit smaller.

@SparkyBlue exactly what pp said above. There are loads of people I know who definitely have an issue paying 50/60 euros every time the need to see a gp, that middle that people talk about :no entitlement to a medical card but not on a high salary either.
I have family in France and Spain who pay 5euros per gp visit or at times 25euros but it is totally reimbursed (not through additional health insurance which isn’t reimbursement but money you are paying in addition to tax anyway).
I have known people to put off going to the gp because of cost here. It is a lot with prescriptions on top etc. I remember having thrush and was living in the uk, I went to the pharmacy and bought an oral medication (7 pounds sterling ), then when it happened in Ireland it was €60 euros for gp, around 15euros for the medication so 75 euros !!!!!! The exact same treatment; it’s crazy that we accept this. How can it be such a different system to elsewhere in Europe but then we pay high taxes like other countries also? I also think people have to pay here for a+e visits but not if you have a medical card, someone told me it was100 euros ?? Is this actually correct ?

DH had a very fast experience in A&E last week which was good to see.

Thats true @Runorsleep , DH was in a&e sunday night and the €100 bill arrived here on Tuesday. I'm always amused at how quickly the bill arrives.

DH's A&E visit two weeks ago was €100 and he was seen very quickly, seen on a Sunday afternoon so I knew from experience the bill would arrive first thing Tuesday morning and it did.

Sorry me again! Can I just ask... there's three levels

Free with a card
Have insurance (work provided or get yourself)
Pay as you go

How much is the insurance if you pay it yourself?

You can expect A&E to be very busy at weekends especially in the evenings/nights with all the people injured from accidents or fights while drunk and Saturdays and Sundays during the day a lot in with sporting accidents.

What health insurance do you have OP? I'm with Laya and get unlimited video consultations for free (and I have one of the cheaper policies - c. €900 p/a). I have used it twice recently, it's very efficient. Not suitable for every situation of course but it has worked for me. They send a prescription through to your nominated pharmacy too if required.

Same day appointments often available, next day at the latest. Both times my appointments were with lovely (different) doctors who took time to talk and explain what I needed. A really useful service.

Gp is free with a medical card for the young, (some) long term illness and low waged.
Rest is largely pay as you go, but insurance let's you claim back a certain number of visits usually. Plus free telehealth with VHI and Layla. The insurers also have a small number of minor injuries and out of hours clinics which are often included. Great for DD who only ever seems to fall ill on a Saturday morning...

And you can claim 20% of health care costs back from the revenue.

www.revenue.ie/en/personal-tax-credits-reliefs-and-exemptions/health-and-age/health-expenses/index.aspx

Only if you pay tax.

I'm with Irish Life and get €25 per GP visit max 5 visits per year. €60 per consultant max 3 visits per year.

A&E is free is you have a GP referral. I think the charge is there to discourage people from using it as a cheaper option to going to the GP for ailments that should be seen by a family doctor. Not necessarily right but understandable why it’s there.

I don’t mind paying the GP charge because my doctor is excellent and I can afford it. I recall being a kid though and having to be really sick before my parents would bring me because it was such a significant amount to pay out. I suspect there are many more in the same position today although the free care for under 7s really helps.

I have a sister in the UK and the NHS is a brilliant system however she has really struggled to get a consultant referral from her GP for an ongoing issue - the gatekeeping is a real issue for her. Our system is pretty crap in lots of ways but I have found my doctor very willing to listen and refer you on, and the private system (for all its inequality) does give you an alternative route if you’re not getting anywhere in the public system. I know without a shadow of a doubt that if my mother had been forced to stay in the public system when she was diagnosed with a heart condition she would not be with us now. Her private cardiologist literally saved her life.

turkeyboots you get so little back though, literally euros because of the bullshit exesses that they mess with every year. I’ve had private health insurance since I was 16 because my parents told me it was the most important thing I could have. Now with 4 kids and regular doctor visits for dh’s arthritis and kids’ excema and asthma we still barely manage to get more than a few euro despite paying so much a month. Plus when we were properly strapped and cut it down to the bare minimum we got refused for scans in a semi private hospital and had to wait 2 years after we upped it again as it was now, on the basis of that one scan, seen as a pre existing condition. 6 months before that two year period was up we finally got a public consultation. If we swap providers we wait another 2 year period before anyone can be reimbursed for anything pertaining to any of our pre existing conditions!!! It’s all a jip

I think the people who might turn up at a+e instead of going to a gp might well be the same who have medical cards but I might be totally wrong , just my impression…..so they won’t be affected by 100 euro charge.
You get very little back through tax. I just can’t understand how it can’t be free or minimal payment like other European countries. It’s is absolutely a big issue and really dismissive of many people’s circumstances to act as though €60 every time you see a dr is no biggie. We actually have the money and like I said paid a lot for additional vaccines , €650 per each child and then administration costs (men b vaccines are only recently on the vaccine schedule so most kids over 5 now aren’t vaccinated in Ireland against men b and it can rear it’s head in teenage years, I know of 3 plp who died of it in older years -two teenagers and one adult). Again family in Spain etc it’s all routine. I just don’t get how a developer country with high tax is in this state health system wise. Hours in a+e, charges for gps. I think I’m very struck by this as had to attend a hospital abroad recently and it was amazing the difference, zero waits , excellent service , no charges . And yes, we are definitely considering a move now and one major key factor is the health system and the absolute abysmal state of it in Ireland.

I honestly don't think that most people have issues with paying for their gp.

Eh? People absolutely do. I'm lucky to rarely need the GP and can quite easily afford it when I do but of course it's a struggle for so many people. People shouldn't have to delay addressing health issues because of their financial circumstances.

@Runorsleep
Where did you attend the hospital abroad ?
Is it a very high tax country ?

I think medical card holders do have to pay the full amount in the hospital? Could be wrong but people I know with medical cards go to the gp over the hospital but even for horrendous things that definitely need a hospital visit