GP Now Swords Clinic

The Hill Billy

Please do not post speculative comments as it may damage a going concern.

What is your source for this?

tHB

FiveSive

Phoned gpnow cork this morning, gp now gone into liquidation, am disgusted!

<mod snip>

I paid €180 upfront in February, doubt I'll see that again if the staff havent even been paid!!!

Cancel your direct debits with GP Now everyone!!!!!! am so p***ed off they didnt even contact me! they sent me texts every week to tell me to subscribe to 3 year or 10 year plan and yet they dont contact me to tell me they've closed down!!

The Hill Billy

GP Now in Swords are open for business today, I just checked.

@FiveSive - I have removed potentially defamatory comments from your post. Please do not make such comments again as it exposes you & boards.ie to possible legal action.

tHB

FiveSive

How can one clinic be in liquidation and not the other clinic?

The Hill Billy

I do not know. Generally, when a company enters liquidation it ceases trading immediately. Maybe because it is a medical practice the doctors & staff are continuing to work pro bono for a short time to lessen the impact on patients.

FiveSive

Unless gpnow cork was just not viable? The doctor there was so nice, its such a shame. Dublin is probably busier in general anyway.

They closed Portmarnock 2 weeks ago, so maybe they are winding down the company. I still would have appreciated being told before hearing about it on boards.

Savman

Not surprised, they have been awful to deal with. Won't go into detail but had a very poor experience with GP Now Swords.

Are they all independent of each other or is the entire company gone??

FiveSive

I think they must be independent of each other but im not sure.

I really cant understand how cork has gone into liquidation and Swords is open for business.

If anyone has success at getting refunded from them, let me know as i wouldn't mind getting my €180 back!

pinkypinky

Perhaps they are franchises?

I pay monthly by dd. Hopefully Swords will not go too - it's very convenient, even if not a traditional GP service.

Tedo

I don't think they are independent of each other - the same people are in charge of all of them!

They're still accepting membership at the three Dublin clinics, but they are saying Cork is closed when you ring the membership line.

The Hill Billy

The same people may be in charge of them, but they may still be separate legal entities (eg, limited company). Therefore, just because one company goes into liquidation does not mean that any other companies must also be liquidated.

RobFowl

From their twitter account, seems only Cork branch closed, other ones remain open.

"GP NOW Clinics

It is with great regret that GPNow Cork Limited must announce the closure of its Cork clinic at Union Quay and so services to patients will not be provided by or on behalf of GPNow Cork Limited as and from today, 6th May 2014.

From the point of view of continuity of patient care, any member of the Cork clinic should contact 01 905 6000 to make the necessary arrangements to transfer your medical records to your appointed GP.
The closure does not affect services at any other GPNow clinics"

Hermione1

I would not sign up to the service if you were depending on the Swords Clinic. The t&c's in the membership form have changed to Irish Primary Medical Practice (Sandyford) Limited, trading as Irish Private Medical Centres from Irish Primary Medical Practice (Swords) Limited trading as GP Now - I believe they will be shutting the doors on Swords as well.

The Hill Billy

@Hermoine1 - You have no evidence to make such claims. Do not repeat them or post further speculation or hearsay as it may expose you & boards.ie to legal action.

tHB

Gael23

Not related to GPNOW but im in a situation where a GP Surgery closed its doors and its not a good experience.

test4444

The Hill Billy wrote: »

@Hermoine1 - You have no evidence to make such claims. Do not repeat them or post further speculation or hearsay as it may expose you & boards.ie to legal action.

Here are some facts:

From the GP Now Terms & Conditions:
“IPMP” means Irish Primary Medical Practice (Sandyford) Limited, trading as Irish Private Medical Centres, whose address is Suite 1, The Mall, Beacon Court, Sandyford, Dublin 18. and its successors and assignees whomsoever.

From the CRO Web site:
Number 502086
Name IRISH PRIMARY MEDICAL PRACTICE (SANDYFORD) LIMITED
Address SUITE 1
THE MALL
BEACON COURT
SANDYFORD DUBLIN 18
Registered 09/08/2011
Status Strike Off Listed

Effective Date 09/03/2014


Note that IRISH PRIMARY MEDICAL PRACTICE (SWORDS) LIMITED is still registered. But according to the t&cs you are contracting with the above company.

pedroeibar1

test4444 wrote: »

Here are some facts:

From the GP Now Terms & Conditions:
“IPMP” means Irish Primary Medical Practice (Sandyford) Limited, trading as Irish Private Medical Centres, whose address is Suite 1, The Mall, Beacon Court, Sandyford, Dublin 18. and its successors and assignees whomsoever.

From the CRO Web site:
Number 502086
Name IRISH PRIMARY MEDICAL PRACTICE (SANDYFORD) LIMITED
Address SUITE 1
THE MALL
BEACON COURT
SANDYFORD DUBLIN 18
Registered 09/08/2011
Status Strike Off Listed
Effective Date 09/03/2014

Note that IRISH PRIMARY MEDICAL PRACTICE (SWORDS) LIMITED is still registered. But according to the t&cs you are contracting with the above company.

As a patient I would not be too concerned about those T & C's

There are several issues here.
Firstly, by being ‘strike off listed’ means that IRISH PRIMARY MEDICAL PRACTICE (SANDYFORD) LIMITED is considerably overdue in filing its annual return (a legal requirement) and is incurring a fine on a daily basis for its delay. That filing should have been done over a year ago (by the 09/02/2013.) That is a bad sign, because when a company is late in filing its annual return it means it is not legally compliant and, in the vast majority of cases, it is perceived as a sign of weakness and probably of financial difficulty.
Secondly, according to GPNow publicity, it appears that each of the GPNow locations operates as a separate company and ‘only’ the Cork operation has been affected, with a Meeting of Creditors scheduled for the 15th of this month. That suggests a liquidation of the company running the Cork operation (a receiver or an administrator would have been appointed if they were the routes chosen.) The GPNow statement is less than truthful because according to the Company Register office:

(a) IRISH PRIMARY MEDICAL PRACTCE LIMITED in Navan has not filed an annual return either – it should have been done by 22/09/2013
(b) IRISH PRIMARY MEDICAL PRACTICE (SWORDS) LIMITED should have filed by 30/09/2013 – that has not been done either
So all are in breach of the Companies Acts.

Thirdly, there has to be a very strong likelihood that the same suppliers will be dealing with all clinics, (blood tests, whatever) and it is highly likely that they will discontinue supplying on credit if they are not paid in full for the debts of GPNow Cork. New suppliers and the staff will want cash on the day or they will not supply/work. That will have a big impact of the other companies. Equally, the suggestion by Cork GPNow to its customers to contact them with their new GP to have their medical records passed on suggests a total closure in Cork. That is not likely to instil confidence in the market.

Finally, I cannot see too many people renewing (if at all) at anything other than on the ‘pay per month’ option. With one company strike-off listed, the others long past their ARD's going down the same route because of non-filing, little or no new business, cash in advance for everything, and a bad public image – how long can the operation last?

Gael23

Well the service as agreed is no longer being provided so I would be arguing that is a breach of contract so you can leave.

test4444

pedroeibar1 wrote: »

As a patient I would not be too concerned about those T & C's

After viewing the GPNow Web site using the Wayback machine, I, as a non-solicitor, unless patients sign a paper contract that differs from the Web T&Cs, would say that REGARDLESS of the claim that each clinic is a separate company, have legally entered into an agreement with IRISH PRIMARY MEDICAL PRACTICE (SANDYFORD) LIMITED and NOT the cork company.

So any patients of GPNow cork who have registered via the Web site without any other contract would seem to have a claim against IRISH PRIMARY MEDICAL PRACTICE (SANDYFORD) LIMITED, unless GPNow is willing to see the patients in Dublin.

pedroeibar1

test4444 wrote: »

After viewing the GPNow Web site using the Wayback machine, I, as a non-solicitor, unless patients sign a paper contract that differs from the Web T&Cs, would say that REGARDLESS of the claim that each clinic is a separate company, have legally entered into an agreement with IRISH PRIMARY MEDICAL PRACTICE (SANDYFORD) LIMITED and NOT the cork company.

So any patients of GPNow cork who have registered via the Web site without any other contract would seem to have a claim against IRISH PRIMARY MEDICAL PRACTICE (SANDYFORD) LIMITED, unless GPNow is willing to see the patients in Dublin.

The issue is not so much what is ‘legal’ - it is what is realistic and feasible, hence my comment on the T & C’s. There is no point in a Cork patient being told ‘You can be seen by a doctor in Sandyford’ and no point in taking an action against Sandyford for a couple of hundred quid, particularly when that company already is in breach of company law and possibly is on the slippery slope as a result of the actions of a related company (even if the ‘related’ is only common directors.)

In my view the key issue is these people have been asking both existing and potential customers to pay an upfront fee with the promise they would then provide a service. In reality, they obtained the payments and now appear to have ‘abandoned’ the Cork company, are overdue in their ARD filings and continue to trade elsewhere using what is an identical (failed) format.

I wonder what the Authorities (e.g. the ODCE and the office of the director of consumer affairs) will do. Am I holding my breath?

pinkypinky

We're verging into Consumer Affairs issues now but here's a question.
I pay monthly having originally signed up with them in January 2013 for a year - so the initial agreement has rolled over. I'm not planning to cancel my direct debit unless I see the Swords clinic close down. The way I see it is the risk is losing one month's fee at €15 but if someone else were to cancel their dd, would they be in breach of contract?

test4444

pedroeibar1 wrote: »

There is no point in a Cork patient in taking an action against Sandyford for a couple of hundred quid...

...and continue to trade elsewhere using what is an identical (failed) format.

There are people who paid 999 Euro that might be worth a Small claims court case. Also it might highlight to the general public your second point.

Interestingly, recent published papers in the Irish Medical Journal indicated GMS patients (those with free GP care) visited on average 7.72 times per year. At 120 Euro per year this works out to 15.50 per visit that is unsustainable. Also a capitation payment like this is very much like insurance, it requires there to be people who "claim" (go to their GP) very few times to pay for the people who go more often.

Because it does not pay to purchase this type of policy if you only go less then three times a year to the GP and you can purchase the policy if your circumstances change; there will be very few under claimers to pay for the over claimers. GPNow is most attractive to the over claimers.

The Hill Billy

Let's keep it local, folks. Consumer-related topics should be raised in the Consumer Issues forum in the Biz category.

Thanks,

tHB

ethernet

If you cancelled, double check your direct debits. I've been charged for two months since April. Probably SEPA-related but still not good.

jeepers101

ethernet wrote: »

If you cancelled, double check your direct debits. I've been charged for two months since April. Probably SEPA-related but still not good.

Nothing to do with sepa and all to do with gp now incompetence. Same thing happened to me well before the sepa changeover.

pinkypinky

Had an email today: prices increasing to €18 per person or €36 for a family from July.

Prices can be fixed if you pay upfront for a year now.

test4444

pinkypinky wrote: »

Had an email today: prices increasing to €18 per person or €36 for a family from July.

€216 (if monthly) per year. Given that Doctor Visit Card Patients visit on average 5.06 times per year or about €43 per visit. The model might work... if the customer's of GPNow are average and not using the service because they tend to visit more often then the average.

RobFowl

test4444 wrote: »

€216 (if monthly) per year. Given that Doctor Visit Card Patients visit on average 5.06 times per year or about €43 per visit. The model might work... if the customer's of GPNow are average and not using the service because they tend to visit more often then the average.

Private patients attend GP surgeries on average 2.6 times FWIW

Khannie

Presumably they'd go more often if it wasn't costing any extra per visit though.

Or (this is purely a science question and not meant to be "classist" or whatever) is lifestyle part of that frequency of visit thing? Like I know for example obesity levels are higher among people with lower income.

RobFowl

Khannie wrote: »

Presumably they'd go more often if it wasn't costing any extra per visit though.

Everyone in the world bar Alex White, James Reilly and the HSE would agree with you.