title: An observational study of public and private general practitioner consultations in the Republic of Ireland.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The reasons why patients visit their general practitioner (GP) is vital information for fund holders and policy makers. GP consultations in the Republic of Ireland are either paid by the patient on a fee-per-service basis (private patients) or by the state [general medical service (GMS) card holders], and information related to primary care consultations is limited.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to conduct an observational study of GMS and private consultations within general practice in Ireland.
  
  
  METHODS
  This is a cross-sectional study of general practitioner consultations.
  
  
  METHODS
  GPs within existing Continued Medical Education (CME) groups were invited to participate. Participating GPs gathered data on 100 consecutive consultations between September 2008 and April 2010.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 16,899 consultations recorded; 53.8 % (9,095) were GMS patients. Patients ≥65 years accounted for 23.69 % of consultations (n = 3,822). Respiratory illnesses accounted for the highest proportion of consultations (3,886, 23.0 %), followed by routine check-ups (15.4 %). GMS patients were more likely to consult for a repeat prescription (OR = 4.04, 95 % CI 2.93-5.57) and were also more likely to consult to review their treatment (OR = 2.33, 95 % CI 1.68-3.22) compared to private patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study displays the consultation behaviour of patients in Ireland. It suggests that inequalities may exist in access to primary care services in ROI; however, more research is required to examine this further. There is insufficient information available on primary healthcare utilisation. Key issues such as the lack of unique patient identifiers and the lack of extractable data from GP practices in ROI need to be addressed.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Practice, School of Medicine, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland, marion.murphy@ucc.ie.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Murphy
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Brodie
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Byrne
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bradley
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D018588:Fee-for-Service Plans / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D058006:General Practice / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007494:Ireland; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009313:National Health Programs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult