Leo Varadkar promises free GP care for all under-18s by 2017

Free GP care will be extended to cover all children under 18 by 2017, Minister for Health Leo Varadkar has promised.

Mr Varadkar said it was “very doable” to extend the free GP care for under-6s scheme introduced this year to all under 18-year-olds “in the next year or two”.

A new system for disciplining health managers for poor performance or misconduct will be introduced under the new Government, he told a conference in Dublin.

The issue of failing to hold health managers to account had arisen in recent reports from the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) and “this had to change”, he said.

While the Medical Council and Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland operated disciplinary structures for doctors and nurses, there was nothing similar for managers in the health service, he said.

Mr Varadkar also appealed to delegates attending the Health Management Institute to ensure their staff availed of the flu vaccine in advance of the winter.

Uptake for the vaccine is below 50 per cent in all hospitals and even lower in other health settings such as nursing homes.

Last year, 20 people died of influenza in a healthcare setting, he pointed out, and at least some of these lives could have been saved if more staff had been vaccinated.

The Minister acknowledged there were staff shortages in areas such as dermatology and orthopaedics and said these would have to be addressed.

He rejected criticism of the Government’s capital plan, published this week, as electioneering, saying the existing capital plan ran out in 2016 and had to be replaced anyway.

Speaking to reporters, he said “we’re starting to see things turning” in relation to recruitment.

The vast majority of nurses graduating this year were staying in Ireland, while among doctors qualifying, 80 per cent intended to stay here and half of those emigrating planned to come back later.