Mary Moran (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Sean Sherlock, for taking this Adjournment debate. The individual concerned resides in a HSE funded residential St. John of God service that cares for people with an intellectual disability. The person has a physical and intellectual disability with associated very high care needs. For as long as the family can remember, the person has had a medical card. The person entered the care of St. John of God services some 12 years ago in 2002. A review letter was issued on 10 February 2012 to inform the individual concerned that the medical card was up for review on 31 May that year. The letter advised that the person would need to complete a review form for the PCRS by 1 May 2012 to ensure the application would be processed before eligibility expired. However, the PCRS has no record of a review form being returned to the office prior to 2012. A further letter was issued to the individual on 9 May 2012, advising that if the person wished to have eligibility for a medical card extended, they would need to complete the review form. The letter stated clearly that failure to return the review form would result in the person's medical card being cancelled, which is what subsequently happened. The medical card was cancelled in 2012.

This individual's family came to see me in 2014, saying the person's medical card had been removed. I began to make inquiries to discover the reason the medical card had been reviewed. The family are the next of kin of the individual, but they had never heard about this letter and were not aware a letter had been sent in 2012. They were not aware of any of the facts; all they knew was that the individual's medical card had been removed. I have the dates of all the letters sent in respect of the medical card review, but it was a member of staff in the St John of God service that informed the family that the individual did not have a medical card.

I find it very troubling that a HSE funded residential service can unilaterally decide to allow a medical card to expire without notifying the family in the first instance or seeking their consent. What if they had decided to remove the person from the service and the individual no longer had a medical card? What if the individual needed to be sent to a hospital and no longer had a medical card?

On behalf of the family, I queried the matter locally, as well as questioning the medical card section. I was informed by letter that until mid-2014, no resident living in the service had an individual medical card, which is extremely strange. It was further clarified when family members and I met the head of the service - although this person had taken up the position in recent months - that an individual did not need a medical card because the service employed a GP. If somebody is entitled to a medical card, why does he or she not have one? The individual is living in a congregated setting, but as we all know, this will be a thing of the past in a few years. Therefore, why do all of the current residents not have medical cards? Why would a service volunteer to pay for a GP service when an individual was entitled to a free service? Who is paying for the services of the GP? As I have stated, the individual has high medical needs. I question who has paid for their medication? Why would a service funded by the HSE do this if a resident is entitled to a medical card? There are many families involved in providing day-to-day care, as well as making decisions for an individual family member living in a residential service. At the very least, they deserve to be informed about the position on medical cards and the care provided for their family members. I find this issue very troubling and believe there is a serious lack of transparency in this case.