An extra 215,000 people are eligible for a free GP visit card from today.

All children up to the age of eight years old are now eligible for free GP care, alongside everyone over the age of 70.

It means nearly 850,000 people in the country can now access free GP care in Ireland.

Today’s expansion is the third the scheme has seen this year after the cars were rolled out to children aged six and seven years old in August and changes to the income threshold announced in September.

On Newstalk Breakfast this morning Kildare GP Brendan O’Shea welcomed the move – but warned that many GP practices are finding it hard to meet demand.

“It is a good thing,” he said. “It is bringing us more in line with Europe and in most of Europe, most primary care, most general practice, is provided free at the point of service.

“So, in principle, it is a good thing - it's a good thing in terms of social medicine - but back in the practices we are working very hard.

“We're heading into another winter and it's going to be very difficult. There are general cutbacks in the health system and reduced recruitment to hospital positions and that always has a knock-on for us in general practice.”

GP shortage

Dr O'Shea said a significant extension in the number of GPs being trained up was announced last week – but warned that it takes up to 12 years to fully train a GP.

He rejected claims that free GP leads to people abusing the system and visiting the doctor for small ailments.

The Kildare GP said studies showed that when free GP care was rolled out to children under the age of six, usage went up by between 20% and 25%.

A doctor examines a patient in his office. Picture by: Jozef Polc / Alamy Stock Photo

He said a “very small percentage” of people potentially overuse the system when care is free – but the majority of extra use is justifiable.

“What you have is, you have people with things like asthma, instead of sticking it out for another day or two, they consult a doctor a little bit earlier,” he said.

“When numbers of them do that, that reduces the number of admissions into the acute hospital system and arguably, at the end of the day, the evidence would suggest that it saves lives.

“So, what we're doing is, is we're enabling people to attend a little bit earlier.”

Free GP care

He said cost is often a deterrent to people who have good reasons to attend a doctor.

“So, with this kind of an extension, we are going to have to see more people,” he said.

“We are concerned about that and we are grappling with that but it isn’t casual misuse of the system, It's essential medical care.”

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