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THE RECESSIONARY DECLINE in the number of people visiting their GP now seems to be reversing, according to a new survey of Irish health trends.
The Pfizer health index, an annual study of healthcare and illness, said that 43% of us have visited our GP in the last three months for a check up, compared to 38% in 2014.
An increasing number of people are also positive about their personal health, with 84% of respondents agreeing that their health was excellent or very good.
But only one in five respondents agreed that Ireland has come out of recession.
Some 25% reported having no medical insurance or health cover.
Half said that cuts to healthcare have had the biggest impact on people.
One in five thought that social welfare cutbacks made a bigger impact, while one in six said people have been most affected by education cuts.
Misdiagnosis
The survey also showed that increasing numbers now turn to technology for healthcare reasons, with 44% using the internet to diagnose symptoms, research illnesses and get information on how to lead a healthier lifestyle.
But only 14% said they find online searches generally beneficial.
By comparison, half of respondents were positive about apps for exercise, nutrition, calorie counting, sleep and medical use.
One in five said they used one or more of these self-monitoring apps.
The study also found that 15% of people have misdiagnosed an illness on the internet.
Women between the ages of 25 and 34 are most likely to wrongly self-diagnose after an online search, it said.
Impact of austerity
Speaking at the launch of the report, Professor Charles Normand of the School of Medicine at Trinity College Dublin said its findings indicate that people are “still feeling the impact of the austerity” on their personal finances.
While we are now seeing an increase in the numbers of people with private medical insurance, and more people are becoming eligible for free GP care, there is still 25% of our population who pay the full cost of primary care and have access only to public hospital services.
The index surveyed a nationally representative selection of 1,004 Irish adults above the age of 16.
Interviews were conducted at 63 randomly selected sampling locations over the course of two weeks in April.
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This government has further widened the margin between well off people and struggling people. Economy is going in Dublin yes. I don’t see cranes builders etc anywhere else in the country.
I don’t see more than a dozen apprenticeships advertised nationally. construction sector may be doing well but not sustainably well.
You missed these then Kevin.
https://www.esb.ie/main/press/pressreleaseWS.jsp?id=4954
http://pressroom.eircom.net/press_releases/article/eircom_to_create_375_jobs_over_next_five_years/
Moaners will always moan!
Three cranes in Enniscorthy at work.
The definition of what a recession is happens to be over. The long lasting effects of austerity on the poor and tax cuts for the rich will take years to reverse, assuming this government gets beaten electorally of course.
What tax cuts do you speak of Kevin? The middle and upper classes have fared the worse, not the poor. The elite rich have, as always, been avoiding tax. That’s not new this year or 10 years ago.
People will know The recession is over when wages start getting back to what they were in 2006… Which is a long way away..!
Alliteration. There is a quicker way to known: prices will rise first.
Alliteration is supposed to be Alister. Apologies, its the stupid big brother putting what he thinks I want!
€55 for a GP, the quickest €55 you’ll ever spend to be told to hang in there, it’s just a phase. Seriously, this is what I was told for a chronic illness that stayed with me for almost a year before I had to change doctors as the one I was seeing was not paying the slightest bit of attention to my symptoms. Gang of chancers. Even the new one wants you in and out in 5 minutes, what exactly are you meant to learn from a patient in that time? Don’t get sick folks.
Ally. I agree. Like any other profession there are some bad ones, although there does seem to be a lot of bad docs out there. Something wrong with their training I’d say. Too many lectures from Big Pharm and too much dependence on text book medicine. Not enough interest in people to stimulate their thinking. Money too easy to get also.
Biodiversity….thanks for the comment. Judging by all the red thumbs there’s plenty of GP’s reading or their offspring or friends as they genuinely wouldn’t get time to read this, I know they’re overworked, but I still don’t think it’s too much to ask to get some attention for your genuine illnesses when you visit, I hadn’t been inside a GP’s office until coming down with something bad a couple of years ago, and I never want to go back to one again, hoping for a full bill of clean health asap so I don’t have to go near one again.
Ally, it sounds like you have been unlucky. Not all GPs are like that. I have never felt rushed, or my symptoms unaddressed. Most doctors in general practice are attentive and skilled at weeding out time wasters. It’s wrong to say they are chancers, you have been unlucky with your choice of doctor by the sound of it.
Ruth. Your probably right. Problem is it’s hard to find a good one. Seems to be just luck. Good ones are rare, but they are there.
In the name of, you may be thinking of a depression. Check economics definition. There are a large group of people in Ireland who DREAD the end of the recession, namely those on pensions and people with disabilities as everything will go up in price. Property tax, food prices, heating costs, medicine, home help etc. the list goes on and on. These people will suffer more when the recession is over as no political party will willingly look to their needs. We live in an economy, not a society.
Recession is over for some.those that kept their job without too much of a hit in income..but for everyone else its still alive and kicking..whatever about the dictionary definition of a recession its not being felt in earned or disposable income..
We are out of recession, and have been for years. Do people understand what recession even means?
people tend to understand it’s effects more so than the dictionary definition and it’s effects will be felt for decades to come.
Recently dislocated a toe – it was looking like an unpaid day off work and €50 for the GP and hours at an overcrowded A&E.
There are excellent guides on fixing yourself on Youtube – toe fixed and back to work in no time. Who needs government?
What does YouTube say to do when your toe gets chopped off ?
This country’s GP surgeries are full every day with the same hypochondriacs most of which there’s f**k all wrong with them. And guess what ? There the ones with the medical card.
MC holders are encouraged back by the docs ‘I’d like to see you again in about 10 days’, for even trivial stuff. Some have no ethical principles AT ALL.
You do realise that GPs don’t get any extra money for seeing a medical card patient more than once. in fact they lose money as that appointment could have been taken by a private patient…
Garvan. No I didn’t, so thank you for that. So how does it work? Is it a fixed payment for a year or something? Re losing money, I don’t think so as they did not have the money in the first place. They may have lost the potential to earn money okay. But happens us all everyday.
Yes. It it’s a capitation fee, per patient per year. The more often a patient comes the visit costs less. medical card patients tend to visit more often. The occasional (as you correctly pointed out) potential private patient often is keeping the practice afloat. As more and more GPs emigrate to places that offer a better lifestyle and better remuneration, those of us who stick it out here are going to come under much heavier pressure. There is not much incentive for foreign doctors to come here…
As MC holders visit more often then the capitation fee should probably be higher. Re leaving the country, I doubt it is just for better living standards and money as both can be achieved in Ireland. What I see driving docs away are the conditions of their work. Who in their right mind would want to work in A&E conditions? Why is the medical profession so fragmented? Why do doctors offer so few services, opting to send people to a consultant at the drop of a hat? Why do doctors charge a full fee when someone turns up with flu or the common cold? Why do doctors complicate an illness by prescribing a medication to fight the side effect of a previous medication.
The system is poor – I’ve now forgotten why I’m writing this bit of a rant so I’ll sign off. Cheers.
I realise you are on a rant :) so I won’t take offence, but in actual fact over 90 per cent of contacts with the health services start and end at the primary care level. Irish doctors can walk into any country in the world barring language difficulties. I spent 8 years working the US and the UK, and I am seriously thinking of moving to Australia despite being on the wrong side of fifty. believe me, I was making a lot more money on a NIH research fellowship in Iowa, and that was considered badly paid in the US. this country has some of the best trained doctors in the world, and people sadly may only realise this when they are gone, and replaced by people who failed to make the grade in Russia. Sorry about the return rant but I worked hard to get home, and I am sickened that I am forced to think of emigrating again….
I’d like to know who these people who don’t think that the recession is over are ? Could it be that they don’t actually understand the terminology because the fact the recession is over is indisputable .
They probably understand terminology but remain using a widely used term that has become a buzz word for hard economic times, as has the word austerity. Both will be used for years to come as only one sector of society recovers.
To give a real value of this survey , give us the location and general status of the 1004 people surveyed.
This recession maybe over is some parts of the country come to the rural country side and without any survey you”ll see it NOT.
http://www.healthcaremagic.com/ …. I had good service and results from very experienced doctors for just €18.
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