Under 8 Free GP Care
As always, we will have daily designated appointments allocated to facilitate our Under 8 children. We ask that you ring the surgery as early as you can, our phone lines are open and busiest from 9am to 10am. This is due to patients calling in to make an appointment and our same day appointments are usually filled by these patients ringing at this time.
Our admin team will ask for the patients name & contact number. You will be asked for a quick description of the issue, this is not to obtain personal medical information, but to best manage the patients that need to be seen quickest.
For respiratory type issues, you may be asked to do an antigen test on your child prior to your appointment. Most often, your appointment time will be towards the end of the surgery session, it is very important to note that you could be asked to wait in your car to be called. (We avoid using the waiting room for respiratory type illnesses)
Please respect the nature of these appointments. They are designed to enable us to see as many of our young patients as we safely can. Unfortunately, we will not be able to see everyone but we will do our best to see those that need it the most as quickly as we can.
Routine appointments can be made and booked in advance.
And finally, while we would like to thank you for your support and understanding, it is with regret that we have to say, although in the minority, at times we experience unacceptable demands and behaviour from some of our patients.
Abusive and excessively demanding behaviour towards our staff is not acceptable, it will never be tolerated in this surgery and if directed at any staff member, a change of practice will be required.
Thank you in advance of your co-operation.
https://www2.hse.ie/services/schemes-allowances/gp-visit-cards/under-8s
Registration process for patients
Before logging on to the website, PPS numbers for the child and parent/guardian are required.
1. Log on to www.GPVisitCard.ie
2. Follow the instructions. The practice is registered under Dr Orla McCormack and under Dr Conor Maguire.
3. Type “Dr Conor Maguire” and the relevant option will pop up
4. On completion you will receive a confirmation email telling you a request has been sent to your chosen GP for approval.
5. The surgery approves requests daily.
6. When your application is approved a card with the GMS number on it will be sent out in the post to you.
7. It is vital you contact the practice with this number as we need to enter this number on to our system to ensure your child is added correctly to our panel.
9. We can only see under 8 children free of charge who are on our panel therefore we would encourage you to register now if you haven’t already done so.
If the surgery is closed and your child needs to be seen urgently please use our out of hours service, NORTHDOC which has many clinics to choose from – our most local one being Hartstown. The contact number is 0818224476
Newborn Babies
Our advice is to get your baby’s registration processed as quick as possible as until your child is registered for the under 8 contract, he/she will not be entitled to be seen here free of charge.
If you do not have a PPS number for your child please contact the Client Identify Services, Dept of Social Protection on lo call 0818927999 or email cis@welfare.ie. See below for the most up to date HSE information.
https://www2.hse.ie/services/schemes-allowances/gp-visit-cards/under-8s/
What is covered by the Under 8 GP scheme?
Put simply, all the normal acute medical care needs of your child under eight are covered, free of charge.
Asthma assessments are provided too, entailing a special review three months after a new diagnosis, and also an annual review. Please make a specific appointment for this service.
Influenza vaccination is also highly recommended, in September and early October each year.
What is not covered by the under 8 GP scheme?
While the Under 8 GP scheme covers most routine needs of your child, it doesn’t stretch to a range of non-medical tasks that are often carried out by our practice. While these can still be facilitated, they will incur a fee.
Items not covered, as suggested by the HSE, include:
– travel vaccinations
– paediatric phlebotomy
– passport / identity reports / letters
– créche reports
– utilities reports / letters
– insurance medicals / reports
– school attendance notes / certificates
– sports medicals / reports
– letters in support of applications for services under the Social Welfare Acts (housing, clothing etc).
