How online GP consultations work in Ireland

An online GP consultation is a normal general practice appointment held over secure video or telephone instead of in a waiting room. The clinician is an Irish-registered doctor on the Irish Medical Council register, the consultation is documented in a clinical record, and anything issued afterwards — a prescription, a sick certificate, a referral letter — carries the same weight as it would from a bricks-and-mortar surgery.

Step by step: what the appointment looks like

1. You pick a slot. Same-day slots are the norm; you choose video or phone at the point of booking.
2. You complete a short pre-consultation questionnaire covering your symptoms, current medicines, allergies and — for women of childbearing age — pregnancy and breastfeeding status. This is the same safety information a receptionist and GP would gather in person.
3. You pay for the appointment (€39 for a standard consultation) and receive a booking reference by email.
4. At the appointment time you join from the link in your confirmation, or the GP calls the number you supplied.
5. The GP takes a history, asks you to show anything relevant on camera where useful, and agrees a management plan with you.
6. Afterwards the GP writes the clinical note and issues whatever you need — prescription, sick cert, referral, or blood test request.

What an online GP can do

• Assess and treat common acute problems: urine infections, chest and throat infections, skin rashes, eye infections, gastro symptoms.
• Review and continue long-term medication, including contraception, asthma inhalers and blood pressure treatment.
• Issue a sick certificate for your employer, school or college, dated to your consultation.
• Write a referral letter to a consultant, physiotherapist or private clinic.
• Request blood tests and interpret the results with you at follow-up.
• Provide travel health advice and prescribe malaria prophylaxis where appropriate.

What still needs to be seen in person

Remote consultation is safe when the clinician can gather enough information to make a decision. When they cannot, the right answer is to say so — and a good online service will tell you that rather than prescribe blindly.

• Anything needing an examination that cannot be done on camera: abdominal tenderness, chest auscultation, joint examination, ear drums.
• Chest pain, breathlessness at rest, stroke symptoms, severe abdominal pain — these need 999/112 or an emergency department.
• Procedures: injections, wound care, smears, coil fits, immunisations.
• Controlled drugs and most sedatives, which are not prescribed remotely.

Prescriptions: how they reach your pharmacy

Prescriptions issued in Ireland are sent electronically through Healthmail, the HSE-approved secure email service that connects prescribers and community pharmacies. You nominate any pharmacy in the country, the prescription is transmitted directly to them, and you collect it. Nothing sensitive travels through ordinary email.

What it costs

Online GP services are private, so a medical card does not cover the fee. If you hold a medical card and your problem can wait, your registered GP remains the cheaper route; online care is for the times when speed, distance or work make that impractical.

Your GP and your records

Continuity matters. With your consent, a summary of the consultation can be sent to your own GP so your main record stays complete — which is particularly important for repeat medication, chronic disease and anything requiring follow-up.

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