Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Offaly, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy O'Reilly for raising this issue. At the outset, I assure the House that the Government is committed to ensuring that patients across the State continue to have access to GP services. There have been significant developments in the general practice service recently, with more services being made available to our citizens and additional support provided by the Health Service Executive, HSE. The first two phases of universal GP care without fees were successfully introduced in 2015, first, for children under the age of six years and, second, for all people aged 70 years and over. This has resulted in approximately 800,000 people now being eligible for GP care without fees and without having to undergo a means test. The introduction free GP care for children under six represents a major step forward in improving access, quality and affordability of health care in Ireland. The service contract for GP care without fees for those who are under six, which includes age-based preventive checks focused on health and well-being and a cycle of care for children with asthma, underlines the Government’s commitment to enhancing primary care and keeping people well in their own communities.

I would like to take this opportunity, on my behalf and that of the Minister for Health, to acknowledge the contribution of GPs to meeting the heavy demand on our health service during the peak winter period. The management by GPs of seasonal pressures, which include many patients presenting with exacerbation of chronic conditions is an example of how primary care plays a critical role in our health care system. I am also conscious that general practice does not take an extended holiday over the Christmas and New Year period and that GPs were dealing with a substantial workload while many other people were able to enjoy some time off. It is important to recognise the commitment of GPs to ensuring a responsive, accessible and high-quality service to patients on a year-round basis.

The Government is committed to the continued development of GP capacity and in 2017 the training intake will increase for the second successive year, from 172 to 187 places. Engagement is also commencing this month with GP representatives in the development of a new and modernised set of contractual arrangements for general medical services, GMS, and other public GP services. To date, approximately 94% of GMS GPs have entered into agreements with the HSE for the provision of services to children under six. Currently, almost 364,000 children under six have access to GP care without fees through a medical card or GP visit card.

I will now turn the Deputy's area, about which I know she is concerned. There are currently eight GPs who hold GMS contracts in the Balbriggan area, of whom six also hold contracts for the provision of services to children under six years of age under terms agreed with the Irish Medical Organisation, IMO, in 2015. It would be preferable if all GPs who hold GMS contracts also agreed to hold contracts for GP care without fees for children under the age of six. Nationally, the HSE has recently written to those GMS GPs who have not yet signed up to the under-six contract, and have provided them with a copy of the contract and the form of agreement for their consideration. I hope that those GPs who have not yet signed up to offer this improved and expanded primary care service will do so and ensure that all children aged under six are easily able to access GP services without, as the Deputy stated, their parents or guardians having to pay a fee or travel long distances to access care.

The HSE is not aware of any instances where GPs in the Balbriggan area have declined to accept under six year olds onto their panels. GMS GPs, however, manage their own panels and may, on occasion, close them to new patients if they consider that they have reached the limit of their practice’s capacity. I would add that no GP in the area has reached the maximum permitted number of patients an his or her panel. Where a GMS patient experiences difficulty in finding a GP to accept him or her as a patient, and has unsuccessfully applied to at least three GPs in the area who are contracted to provide services under the GMS, then the HSE will assign that person to a GP's GMS patient list. I hope this is of help to the Deputy.

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