A NEW two-doctor medical practice in the centre of Killarney, Co Kerry, has announced its opening by publishing its consultation fees – sparking speculation among locals that a doctors’ price war is to begin in the town.
The Killarney Medical Centre in New Street is offering “a basic consultation” for €40.
This is well below the €50-€65 charged by most practices for a visit to a GP in the area.
The practice is being set up Dr Michael Moloney, the son of Killarney Labour Senator Marie Moloney and Dr Michael O’Doherty, the brother of Fianna Fáil Killarney town councillor Tom O’Doherty.
Secondary school students will get a consultation for €25, according to a large advertisement this weekend in the local freesheet the Killarney Advertiser.
The advertisement, the first of its kind by a medical practice locally, is being viewed by locals as the start of a price war.
The bulk of the town’s GPs relocated to the modern Gateway commercial centre at the northern entrance to Killarney a year ago.
The move sparked a bitter public row with town pharmacists and an ongoing planning dispute.
There are a number of other practices in the town, which also has out-of-hours service Southdoc operating in the area.
The new Moloney-O’Doherty Killarney Medical Centre is also offering evening appointments, an early morning walk-in clinic, regular Saturday morning services and has been established in a former GP surgery.
Until two years ago, GPs were not allowed to advertise.
But in a study of GP services published in December, the Competition Authority found that lack of advertising was contributing to restrictions on competition.