Easing of the advertising restrictions on doctors has provoked concern that younger GPs could have difficultly competing with established practices that have greater capacity to advertise services.
Speaking at the ICGP NEGs conference, Galway GP Dr John Lally, said: “On the face of it, it seems like a great idea that they are easing some of restrictions so people can put their names out there when they are setting up new practices. I would worry about what is going to happen if you have practices putting big ads in papers and people are going to be printing the cost of their services.”
He added he feared offers like ‘Friday afternoons for five euros’ could be used to attract people.
It was crazy that doctors could not put up a sign to let people know they were there previously, he said. However, he added he was worried about younger GPs’ ability to compete with more established practices, which may have the capacity to advertise more.
He said he was happy with the level of professionalism seen in ads at the moment and hoped that would continue. He acknowledged doctors would be happy they would be able to advertise their services and put a sign up on the door to let people know they were there and to alert them of any changes in service.
Dublin GP Dr Jim Holden said the new rules came close to carte blanche and all doctors had to do was ‘make sure you are not lying’. He predicted there would be a lot more advertising by doctors happening in future.
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