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An agreement has been reached with GPs to reduce the cost of face-to-face appointments by £20 for all islanders from tomorrow – with hopes that free GP visits for children could also be in place as soon as July.
Announced by Social Security Minster Elaine Millar today, the new cost reduction scheme will see practices paid an additional £5 per consultation to support them with the increased costs of running their businesses.
The reduction will only apply to visits in normal surgery hours – home or out-of-hours visits, telephone consultations, and consultations with other health professionals, such as nurses or health care assistants, will continue to be supported by other Health Insurance Fund agreements and not by this new scheme.
Members of the Health Access Scheme already pay a reduced fee of £12 for a GP and so the £20 reduction will not be applied.
Deputy Millar commented: “I am pleased that we have reached this agreement and have been able to tackle the cost of fees for GP appointments. I am grateful to the GPs for their support and implementing these changes over a challenging timeframe."
She added: “As the cost of living continues to be a challenge, it is important that we continue to make positive changes to support islanders and make it easier for them to access the care they need.
“In addition, my team are also working with the GPs to provide free services for all children. Our aim is to have this in place for July and I look forward to announcing the details of this scheme very soon.”
Pictured: In March, Social Security Minister Deputy Elaine Millar said that visiting a GP could become cheaper as soon as April.
It was in March that Deputy Miller first announced that she was in discussions with the Primary Care Body – which represents the island's GPs – with the aim of lowering the cost of GP appointments.
However, at the beginning of April and amid these discussions, a number of local practices increased fees for standard GP appointments to more than £60, citing the need to keep pace with inflation.
The Social Security Minister described it as "unfortunate" that an increase had happened "just after we announced that discussions were taking place to reduce the cost".
Last month, Deputy Millar confirmed that talks with GP surgeries to lower the cost of seeing a doctor were "actively under discussion" – but admitted that they were "taking longer than [she] would like".
Pictured: A standard GP appointment at the Island Medical Centre rose from £54.50 to £64 at the beginning of April 2023.
Following today's announcement of the £20 reduction, Dr Gordon Callander from the Primary Care Body commented: “The PCB have long been calling for increased financial support to patients to allow them to access Primary Care appointments more readily.
"We are delighted that the Minister and her team have considered the increased costs of healthcare in the island and taken this important step to support all patients.
“The Government has also recognised the cost pressures on GP practices, which have been above inflation for a number of years, with increased subsidy to practices to allow them to maintain a wide range of services through GP surgeries."
Pictured: "We are delighted that the Minister and her team have considered the increased costs of healthcare in the island and taken this important step to support all patients."
He added: “We continue to engage with Government on a wide range of issues for the benefit of all islanders and look forward to finalising a contract which will allow children and young people to get the care and support they need from their own surgery.”
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