Strong support for under-6s free GP care plan, survey finds

Government plans to provide free GP care to all children aged under six enjoy strong public support, a new survey suggests.

Almost half the people surveyed were strongly in favour of the proposal, with over three-quarters at least broadly in favour. Only 12 per cent of respondents to this year's Pfizer Health Index were strongly against or against the proposal, which has been strongly criticised by family doctors.

Support for the initiative may be linked to the belief that families with young children have been impacted hardest by austerity budgets. Three out of four adults said this group were worst affected by the economic downturn, while older people were named as the group second most likely to have been hit by austerity.

While the economy is showing signs of recovery, 69 per cent of people said they were still finding it hard to make ends meet.

There seems to be little optimism about personal financial prospects, with 81 per cent saying they felt their current level of disposable income is unlikely to improve this year.

For 30 per cent of those surveyed, health and welfare of the family was the priority, a 6 per cent increase on last year. Personal health came second among a list of priorities, followed by finances and money.

Professor Charles Normand, a health policy expert at Trinity College Dublin, said austerity budgets had achieved some welcome results with cost reductions in the health system and greater efficiencies secured. "We need to ensure that we preserve this but we also need to recognise the enormous reduction in the health budget and really this level of reduction is not sustainable any more without great impact on the health and social services."

He said the growth in the population with neither private medical insurance nor a medical card was a key concern and showed the need to think about alternative models of healthcare provision such as universal healthcare.

Government plans to provide free GP care to all children aged under six enjoy strong public support, a new survey suggests.