One third of Irish people have avoided a GP visit due to money constraints

Worryingly, six per cent of parents in a survey also said they could not afford to bring a sick child to the doctor over the past year.

OVER A THIRD of Irish people have avoided a visit to their GP over the last year because of financial constraints, a new survey has revealed.

The research, conducted on behalf of GP Now, also found that six per cent of parents could not afford to bring a sick child to the doctor over the past 12 months.

More than half of those surveyed paid more than €50 per visit and despite soaring costs over 40 per cent of people have been kept waiting in their doctor’s surgery for longer than 30 minutes before being seen.

An overwhelming majority in the survey said they did not believe that the government will deliver on its election promise to introduce free GP care.

GP Now offers unlimited healthcare on a membership basis with clinics in Dublin and Cork.

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