WITH REPORTS in the national media that patients in the Republic are delaying visits to their GP because of average costs of €40-€60 a visit, families near the Border can access GPs in the North for about half the price.
GPs in Armagh, Fermanagh and Tyrone have an average visiting fee of £30 (less than €35), and some charge patients as little as £22. Prescription charges in general are almost 50 per cent cheaper than in the South.
A representative of a Co Tyrone surgery explained: “Yes, we have many patients and their families on our books from Border counties, especially Monaghan. All you need to do is give us an address that we can confirm, along with a phone number and you are a registered client, then there is no problem.”
Surveys in Roslea, Co Fermanagh, and Keady, Co Armagh, showed that people in the Border region can benefit from getting their health care just across the Border in the North.