Seanad debates

Tuesday, 7 February 2012

General Practitioner Services

 

7:00 pm

Photo of Diarmuid WilsonDiarmuid Wilson (Fianna Fail)
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I wish to share time with Senator Reilly.

Photo of Paddy BurkePaddy Burke (Fine Gael)
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Is that agreed? Agreed.

Photo of Diarmuid WilsonDiarmuid Wilson (Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Costello, to the House and wish him well in his portfolio.

My party colleague, Councillor Shane P. O'Reilly, recently brought to my attention the lack of provision of a general practitioner, GP, service in Mullagh, County Cavan. In the past 12 years the town's population has grown by over 45% to 3,000 people. In 2009, two GPs were in place, one operating for two days for half an hour a day while the other covered three days for the same time each day. Since February 2011, no GP service has been available to the Mullagh community and its hinterland. People there have to travel either four miles to Moynalty or seven miles to Bailieborough. This is unacceptable for a town with no public transport and causing extra hardship and cost for those without their own means of transport to access GP services.

My party colleague, Deputy Smith, raised the matter in the Dáil on 3 February and received a response which was similar to the one he received from the Health Service Executive, HSE, Cavan area manager. It stated a contract was in place with a GP for two sessions per week in Mullagh but that in February 2011 the GP informed the HSE demand was not sufficient for the service. Since then no GP service has been in place. Will the Minister inquire of the HSE as to why this service is not provided even with a contract in place?

Photo of Kathryn ReillyKathryn Reilly (Sinn Fein)
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I thank Senator Wilson for sharing his time on this issue.

The people of Mullagh do not have access to a GP service in their town. No matter what the HSE says about an existing contract, the service is actually not being delivered. The GP service in the town finished in February 2011 when the GP in place informed the HSE he was discontinuing his sessions there. Under the terms of his contract, he is obliged to do two sessions per week in Mullagh. In correspondence I have seen, all the HSE has done is requested him to consider recommencing the service rather than telling him to do so under the terms of his contract. Will the Minister intervene to get GP services resumed at Mullagh? It has been an ongoing concern and raised by local representatives at the regional health forum. While formal complaints may not be on record, public representatives have been vocal on it.

Canvassing in the town during numerous elections, I have noted how it has grown. Along with an elderly population, there are many young families there. Rural transport services are not great in the area which has resulted in people from the town either hitchhiking or paying for taxis to get to the GP in Moynalty and Bailieborough. It is not acceptable to have young mothers with small children having to thumb a lift or pay for a taxi when they are already struggling. The Minister for Health must put pressure on the HSE to ensure a basic GP service for Mullagh.

Photo of Joe CostelloJoe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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I am taking this Adjournment debate on behalf of my colleagues the Minister for Health, Deputy Reilly, and Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Shortall, which addresses the provision of general practitioner services in Mullagh, County Cavan.

The delivery of a sustainable GP service that effectively meets the health needs of the population in a primary care setting is paramount. The HSE's primary, community and continuing care service in Cavan, which has responsibility for the provision of general practitioner services in the county, continues to make every effort to protect and maintain front line services.

The HSE has a contract in place with a GP in the north east who practices from two centres, one in Mullagh, the other in Bailieborough. Under the terms of his existing contract, this GP is obliged to do two sessions per week in Mullagh. However, in February 2011, the GP informed the HSE there was not a sufficient demand for the service in Mullagh and that he was discontinuing his sessions there. He has not practised in Mullagh since February 2011.

When the HSE contacted the GP in question this week, it was confirmed the GP had not received any complaints from patients about the cessation of the sessions in Mullagh since the service was discontinued. The HSE primary care unit in the north east has also confirmed it has not received any complaints regarding the lack of GP sessions in Mullagh.

The HSE has written to the GP in question requesting him to consider recommencing the two sessions per week in Mullagh, as agreed in his contract. The HSE will also consider the option of encouraging a new GP to set up in Mullagh through the new open entry arrangement being introduced in the Health (Provision of General Practitioner Services) Bill 2011, once the relevant legislation is passed in the coming weeks.

The Minister for Health will present this Bill to the House tomorrow. It provides for the elimination of restrictions on GPs wishing to obtain contracts to treat public patients under the general medical services, GMS, scheme by opening up access to GMS contracts to all fully-qualified and vocationally-trained GPs. There will be no limits on the number of contractors. When this Bill is enacted, new GMS contract holders will be free to establish their practice in the location of their choice.

While this may not be an adequate answer, I accept the points made by Senators Wilson and Reilly that the population of the town has increased by 45% in the past ten years and that a contract has been effectively broken. Neither is it good enough for the HSE to ask the GP to consider recommencing his service. I will bring these points to the Minister for Health and the Minister of State and make clear the Senator's dissatisfaction with the present state of affairs with GP services in Mullagh.

Photo of Diarmuid WilsonDiarmuid Wilson (Fianna Fail)
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For the HSE to claim it has received no complaints is not accurate. There have been complaints to Councillor Shane P. O'Reilly and other public representatives including myself, Senator Reilly and Deputy Smith. It is unacceptable for the HSE to have left Mullagh without GP services for over 12 months even when there is a contract in place for a GP to provide such services. I note from the Minister of State's reply that a contract is in place for a GP to provide these services. It is not acceptable that the community, and its vulnerable members in particular, should be deprived of the services of a GP. I urge the Minister of State to investigate the matter at the earliest opportunity.

Photo of Joe CostelloJoe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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I will add that to the points that have been made. It is the Senator's assertion that a number of complaints have been made and what has been said tonight is not quite accurate.