Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 160: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if her attention has been drawn to the practice of general practitioners charging patients supplementary fees for blood tests, or other treatments or services, to make up for the reduction in the amounts being reimbursed by the Health Service Executive; if she will take steps to eradicate this process; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22169/09]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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Under the General Medical Services (GMS) contract, either capitation or fee-per-item, the general practitioner (GP) undertakes to provide all proper and necessary treatment of a kind generally undertaken by a GP to these patients. Accordingly, under these contracts a GP should not demand or accept any payment or consideration for services provided by him/her, including blood tests, where they are indicated as part of a recognised treatment of an ongoing medical condition of a patient.

I am aware that some GPs charge for the transport of patients' blood samples to the hospital as this is not covered under the GMS Scheme. However the option of attending the public hospital directly for phlebotomy services is always available to GMS clients. If the HSE is made aware of specific instances where GMS patients are being inappropriately charged by GP contractors, it will arrange to have them investigated as appropriate.