John Brassil (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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923. To ask the Minister for Health if he will include the process of blood removal for haemochromatosis patients, venesection, by general practitioners for medical card holders to be covered by the scheme and for general practitioners to be reimbursed accordingly in order to reduce the necessity of attendance at hospitals and in turn reduce pressures on hospital resources; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41306/16]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Under the terms of the current GMS contract, GPs are required to provide eligible patients with ''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." Venesection for the treatment of haemochromatosis is not considered a routine service under the GMS contract.

There is a range of initiatives and services provided in a primary care setting and which I hope to see further developed, which are intended to facilitate care being delivered in the setting of lowest complexity appropriate to the patient's condition. One such initiative is the GP Minor Surgery Pilot Initiative, which includes venesection therapy. This pilot research project involves 23 GPs in 20 practices who are delivering a range of minor surgery procedures in general practice and has been established by the HSE and the Irish College of General Practitioners.

Preparations for the next phase of discussions on a new GP contract are underway. I am keen to ensure that future contractual terms for GPs would enjoy the support of the broad community of GPs and in this regard officials from my Department and the HSE will be engaging with the relevant GP representative bodies in relation to the wide range of matters which will need to be encompassed by the contract development process. It is not possible at this stage to provide a list of the individual issues that will be for discussion. The aim is to develop a new modern GP services contract which will incorporate a range of standard and enhanced services to be delivered. I would expect that the issue of therapeutic venesection services for patients with haemochromatosis will be considered in the context of the overall GP contract review process.