ALL children will now be eligible for free GP appointments as part of a government scheme.
The programme also covers free blood and urine tests, referral letters, ECGs, swabs, spirometry, ear syringing and pregnancy tests for Islanders who are 17 and under, according to Social Security Minister Elaine Millar.
Deputy Millar said it also covered face-to-face surgery consultations and telephone consultations with GPs, nurses, paramedics, pharmacists and health care assistants.
Home visits and consultations with the out-of-hours service are not included in the scheme, which is paid for through the Health Insurance Fund.
Deputy Millar said that the scheme had been a ‘difficult thing to achieve’ but hoped that it would ‘make a huge difference’ to local children and their families.
The minister also reassured Islanders that there were no concerns about the new approach overwhelming local practices, and confirmed that there were ‘enough doctors’ to deal with any ‘uplift’.
Deputy Millar explained: ‘The Health Access Scheme has provided free surgery visits for children from low-income families for over two years.
‘I am now pleased to introduce this new scheme for [all] children, which reduces costs for all families and young people – making it free for all children to see a health practitioner at their general practice.
‘This is the latest in a series of schemes which have been introduced to make primary-care services more accessible and invest in the health and wellbeing of Islanders.’
The Primary Care Body, which represents the Island’s GPs, added: ‘We are delighted to support this important project which means that children and young people will be able to access GP services without worrying about fees.
‘General practice continues to be the cornerstone of health services both locally and further afield. This joint commitment ensures that we can continue to provide high-quality family medicine while removing barriers.’
The introduction of free GP appointments for children follows last month’s announcement that GP appointments for all Islanders would be reduced by £20.
However, critics of the scheme included a charity chief executive who suggested that it would be better to have ‘more targeted’ measures to help those most affected by the cost-of-living crisis after it emerged that low-income Islanders on the Health Access Scheme would not see any reduction in their £12 fee.
Deputy Millar said that a review of the Health Access Scheme was currently being carried out, but said that this was ‘not necessarily with a view to increase [the] scope [of the scheme]’.
