Written answers

Tuesday, 8 July 2014

Department of Health

General Practitioner Services

Photo of Billy KelleherBilly Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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711. To ask the Minister for Health if general practitioners are required to provide a home visit service to private patients on their list or in their catchment area; if GPs participating in the GMS scheme are required to provide such a service to their medical card or GP visit card list; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29256/14]

Photo of Alex WhiteAlex White (Dublin South, Labour)
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There are over 2,800 General Practitioners (GPs) in Ireland, working in group practices, primary care centres, single practices and health centres across the country. Many GPs in Ireland are private practitioners and the hours that a private practice is open varies. GPs have a variety of arrangements in place to provide cover for patients over a 24 hour period. These include rotas with other colleagues or deputising services. The Minister for Health has no role in relation to the running of a private practice.

On 30th April 2014, 2,416 GPs held a General Medical Services (GMS) contract, providing services on behalf of the HSE. The GMS contract states that the medical practitioner shall provide for eligible persons, on behalf of the Health Service Executive, all proper and necessary treatment of a kind usually undertaken by a general practitioner and not requiring special skill or experience of a degree or kind which general practitioners cannot reasonably be expected to possess.

Under Section 10 of the GMS contract, the GP shall be routinely available for consultation by eligible persons at his/her approved surgery or surgeries and for domiciliary visiting for a total of 40 hours each week, on five days or more in the week, by agreement with the HSE. The GP's hours of availability shall have regard to his/her patients' needs in the locality and the GP shall not amend their hours without the agreement of the HSE. The medical practitioner shall also make suitable arrangements to enable contact to be made with him/her or his/her locum/deputy outside normal hours for urgent cases. The GP must make known to their patients their hours of routine availability by way of notice in their practice premises.

Photo of Billy KelleherBilly Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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712. To ask the Minister for Health if he will provide a list of GPs in the Dublin 3, 5, 9 and 13 areas who provide a home visit service to private patients who are too ill to attend their surgeries; if he will provide a list of those who provide such a service to medical card patients and a list of those who provide such a service to GP-only card patients. [29257/14]

Photo of Alex WhiteAlex White (Dublin South, Labour)
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As this is a service matter, it has been referred to the Health Service Executive for direct reply to the Deputy.

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