Ciara Conway (Waterford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Like Senator Burke I have a few questions about medical cards and prescribing patterns. Dr. Duffy referred to a road-show with regard to the move to educating GPs about prescribing generic medicines. The issue of medical cards has been to the fore in public discussion in recent months. I am acutely aware that the drugs budget and the medical card budget come from the one pot. I am concerned that people are being over-prescribed or where regular reviews of their medication are not being carried out. For example, my 92 year-old grandmother had two kitchen presses full of medication. I am not a doctor but I am not sure that her medication was ever reviewed. For a number of years we used to collect the two shopping bags full of medication. Is the IMO satisfied that the current policy of educating GPs about the prescribing of generic medication and medication in general is sufficient? Could we be doing more?

We attended a meeting in the PCRS, primary care reimbursement service, with Paddy Burke, last week. He indicated to us that GPs have the power to activate or re-activate medical cards. He told us categorically that there is a system in place whereby GPs can prolong the life of a medical card up to three months in emergency situations and where there are extenuating social circumstances, for up to one year. I ask the delegation to comment. People are coming to constituency offices in a panic. If that power and discretion is available to GPs, why is not being used?