Volume XX Issue 12 FREE
11th April 2012
Turn to page 9 to read about Rick Genest and other fans of body modification.
Lady Gaga arrives at the 2011 VMA’s in an ‘embryonic state’. More on page 10.
Students set to pay for Health Centre visits
The Student Health Centre is located in the main building. Services are currently free of charge.
Kelly O’Brien, Editor
IT has recently emerged that UL Student Health Centre, located in the main building, will be charging for medical services as of this coming September. The decision to implement charges comes from the University Executive and follows in the footsteps of UCD, DCU, NUIM and TCD. Professor Paul McCutcheon, Vice President Academic & Registrar of UL stated that the medical centre was “running deficits” year on year and, as such, the executive has decided to seek a “student contribution” for medical services. He states that this change stems from “increased demand” in the health centre and is partially due
to a “change in student requirements”. Professor McCutcheon states that “We want to make the medical service sustainable. It’s not sustainable under the current scheme as we are running deficits. We’re aware that the students have medical needs and we want to provide a reasonable level of service that we can sustain into the future. The only way this can be done is by putting in charges for medical consultation.” Professor McCutcheon goes on to say that the charges will be “considerably less” than you’d pay for a GP. The charges for the medical centre will be as follows: €25 to see a Doctor, €10 to see a Nurse, €25 for a psychiatric consultation, €40 for physio, €10 for the STD clinic and €10 for contraceptive advice. The University will continue to partially subsidise the cost of the Centre. ULSU Education Officer, Aoife Kenny, stated that the current economic climate was partially to blame for this move and that “the days of getting stuff for free are well gone by.”
On a more optimistic tone, she went on to say that “it’s still cheaper than you’ll get in Castletroy or in the city centre.” With the introduction of fees, it is expected that UL students will see a complete systems upgrade in the Health Centre. Essential services such as medical, physio and sexual health will be retained with improvements being made in relation to waiting times and opening hours. Students in possession of a medical card will still have to pay for Health Centre services, but can claim back this money from their local health board. Students who have health insurance may also claim back the cost of their visit. ULSU President, Derek Daly, called the move “unfortunate, but necessary” and believes that the situation is a “manifestation of the unsustainability and underfunding of the third level sector in Ireland.” “I expect that students will demand much more of the health centre now that they are directly contributing
toward its upkeep.” Currently, UL is one of very few educational institutes that offer free medical care for students. NUIG does not currently charge for students to use their healthcare facilities, though this was part of an agreement between NUIG and NUIG Students’ Union in banning their version of RAG Week. There are currently charges for medical care in UCD, DCU and Trinity College Dublin. The future of the Health Centre, and other necessary services, is also under discussion. With the plans for a new Student Centre currently being drawn up, officials are taking this as an opportunity to safeguard the facilities and services currently in operation. Plans for a ‘Wellbeing Hub’ have been put forward for consideration. Director of Student Academic Administration, Dr Bernadette Walsh, described the Hub as being a “very joined up service”. She goes on to explain that though these plans do depend on finances going into the
future, that the ‘Wellbeing Hub’ would be a centre that incorporates all the different services integral to student life – medical centre, student councelling, disability support etc On the current situation with the Health Centre, Dr Walsh states “the reality is that we’re trying to provide a comprehensive range of service and there’s a big cost associated with that. We simply cannot maintain a level of service unless we introduce some level of charges. If we didn’t do that we’d have to look at reducing the level of service.” The UL Student Health Centre services between 9,000 and 12,000 students per academic year. In its inception, it was designed to be an acute service and more reactionary than permanent. Though originally meant to be an A & E of sorts to deal with on-site cases, in recent years the centre has moved towards being a more general medical service.