In Ireland, over half the adult population are now considered to be overweight or obese. This has implications for individuals in terms of their health as well as for the health service in terms of care utilisation. Using SLÁN (2007) data we estimate the impact on use of general practitioner...

Using data from the Northern Ireland Household Panel survey we demonstrate that attendance at outpatients is determined solely by respondent health. This is consistent with the GP acting as a gatekeeper to other services. Attendance thus provides valuable information on illness severity....