Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

208. To ask the Minister for Health his plans to reform the current system whereby a patient's medical records held by their general practitioner-family doctor are not readily available to hospitals upon admission and with the consent of the patient. [36305/14]

Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Developments in ICT offer solutions to enable a more integrated approach between Primary and Secondary Care.  Examples of these are the use of the Health Link system, where the ordering and reporting of diagnostic tests and referrals from General Practice to Secondary Care are facilitated through a structured messaging infrastructure.

The HSE, in partnership with the Irish College of General Practitioners, is in the process of rolling out a secure e-mail solution called Healthmail.  This will enable GPs to transmit a patient's clinical information to a Secondary Care setting in a secure manner.