Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

For example, the Primary Care Reimbursement Service, PCRS, data for 2015 indicates excisions, cryotherapy and diathermy - basically, the removal of skin lesions - amounted to 156,996 procedures at a cost of nearly €4 million. Given that there will be a renegotiation of the general practitioner contract, there is substantial scope to give direct employment to practice nurses and reform the way the process is paid for. I did not agree at the time when there was hand-wringing about the fee per item but I would be inclined to agree in this case that perhaps the fee per item is not getting the best value for money. The renegotiation of the GP contract gives the Minister and his team the opportunity to examine this.

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