Table 6 Key features of Irish Primary Care

• Mixed public private funding.

• No national register of GPs is in operation, but it is estimated that there are approximately 2500 GPs in Ireland.

• Three categories of eligibility to primary health care:

  ○ Full eligibility: free access to primary health care via the General Medical Services (GMS) scheme, which is means tested. Prescription co-payments were introduced in 2010, and amount to €2.50 per item, up to a maximum of €25 per family in 2014.

  ○ Limited eligibility: free access to GP visits but are required to pay for all prescriptions up to a monthly limit of €144 per family.

  ○ Private patients: non-GMS patients are required to pay in full for primary care services (approx. €50 per GP visit) and are entitled to limited free public health services such as maternity services and childhood immunisations. Prescription costs are paid in full up to a monthly limit of €144 per family.

• An estimated 97 % of people aged 70 and over qualify for the GMS scheme.

• Standardised medication reviews for community-dwelling older patients are not specifically recommended as is the case in the UK with the National Service Framework for Older People.