GPs using children and families as bargaining chip

The Irish Medical Organisation has been playing hardball in the negotiations for the next phase of the free GP care scheme, for children aged 6-11

Free GP care for children under six has been 'an unqualified success'. Pic: Pixabay

Plans for free GP care are not new in this country. Noel Browne tried to bring in his version - known as the Mother and Child Scheme- almost 70 years ago.

In the popular memory, the former Minister for Health was brought down by the scheming of the Catholic bishops, who feared that free healthcare for mothers and children under 16 would lead to ‘socialised medicine’.

But the most powerful opponents - who ...