Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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Question 221: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the grounds upon which a general practitioner can exclude patients from their GMS panel; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22505/09]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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Under the terms of the General Medical Services (GMS) contract which general practitioners (GPs) hold with the Health Service Executive (HSE), a GP shall ordinarily accept all eligible persons, who so request, onto his / her GMS patient list. The number of persons on a GP's patient panel may not exceed 2,000, save in exceptional circumstances. In some cases, a GP may decide not to accept an eligible person onto their list, the principal reason being where they already have a significant patient panel and coping with any additional workload would cause them difficulty. In a small number of cases, a GP may ask to have a patient who is placing excessive demands on the GP's time, and thus impacting on the GP's ability to provide a service to other patients, removed from his/her panel.

Where a GP requests the HSE to arrange for the removal of a patient from his / her GMS list, he / she must give where requested the reason, in confidence, for such a request to a medical officer acting on behalf of the Executive. The HSE shall thereupon notify the person accordingly and supply them with information to enable them to apply for inclusion on the list of another GMS contracted GP.

The Executive has the power to assign an eligible person to a GP's GMS patient list where the person has been removed from another GP's list or refused entry onto a GP's list and the person has unsuccessfully applied to at least three GPs in the area, who are contracted to provide services under the GMS. If the Deputy is aware of any particular case where a GP is excluding a patient from his / her GMS panel, he may wish to refer the details to the HSE for investigation.