Free GP care will take longer than planned, says expert

A health expert has said the timeline for free GP care set out by the Health Minister is likely to take longer than planned.
The government aims to have it in place by 2016 but the first stage of that plan – extending it to everyone on the Long Term Illness Scheme – is already around two years behind schedule due to legal reasons.
Possible options on how free GP care might be introduced are set to go before a Cabinet sub-committee.
Charles Normand is the Edward Kennedy Professor of Health Policy and Management at Trinity College Dublin. He says any scheme would realistically take up to four years to put in place.
“Well I think to put in place the extra GPs and the extra capacity probably would take 3 to 4 years; so I think any timescale probably should be envisaged on that sort of level” he said.
“But some of the changes could be made within the next 6 months or a year without doing any great harm, because the numbers involved could be quite small” he added.