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

The Minister said that this matter will be addressed as part of the GP contract negotiations. One wonders what is the point of the negotiations if GPs are not adhering to the current agreement. I would like to draw the attention of the Minister to the following matter. Many GP surgeries, including some in my own constituency, have put up signs advising patients that if they do not want to pay for their blood tests they can go to the hospital to have them done there. We have just spent a good deal of time discussing the pressures under which our hospitals are already operating. It strikes me that something more concrete can be done. Perhaps a message could be issued to GPs advising them that this is not an acceptable practice. We have already discussed the subventions which GPs receive on a weekly and annual basis. It should not be beyond the scope of the Department of Health to put an end to this practice once and for all.

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