Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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184. To ask the Minister for Health the action he is taking to address the widely reported practice of general practitioners charging medical card holders for blood tests; if he will clarify whether or not a medical card holder can be refunded by his Department or by the Health Service Executive for such a charge; if so, how this can be done; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41006/15]

Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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Under paragraph 11 of the General Medical Services (GMS) contract, a general practitioner (GP) is expected to provide his/her patients who hold a medical card or GP visit card with all proper and necessary treatment of a kind generally undertaken by a GP and not requiring special skill or experience of a degree or kind which GPs cannot reasonably be expected to possess.

Under paragraph 27 of the GMS contract, a medical practitioner shall not demand or accept any payment or consideration whatsoever in reward for services provided by him/her, or for travelling or for other expenses incurred by him/her or for the use of any premises, equipment or instruments in making the services available.

In circumstances where the taking of blood is necessary to either (a) assist in the process of diagnosing a patient or (b) monitor a diagnosed condition, the GP may not charge that patient if they are eligible for free GMS services under the Health Act, 1970, as amended.

The HSE has written periodically to all GMS GP contract holders, most recently in March 2014, and clarified the position in relation to charging for phlebotomy services.

The HSE continues to deal with complaints from GMS patients on a case by case basis. In such circumstances, the Executive will, where appropriate, arrange for a refund of charges incorrectly applied by a GP for phlebotomy services and it will re-coup the value of same from payments due to that GP under the GMS Scheme.

If a GMS patient believes that he/she has been incorrectly charged for routine phlebotomy services, he/she can make a complaint to the HSE local office, who will deal with the matter in accordance with the HSE’s Complaints Policy.

The HSE/Department and the IMO, under a Memorandum of Understanding signed in February 2015, have commenced talks on a new GP contract. A priority of these discussions will be the inclusion of chronic disease management for patients. The appropriate arrangements in relation to phlebotomy services will be considered in this context.