Agreement reached on IMO representation in medical card talks

The Irish Medical Organisation has undertaken before the High Court not to organise or recommend the collective withdrawal of services or boycotts by its members as a means of influencing the Minister for Health, HSE or others in relation to decisions on fee entitlements.

The IMO may apply to the court to be released from that undertaking if there is "a material change in circumstances", it has agreed with the Competition Authority.

The Authority, under the agreement, has also stated it has no objection in principle, or from the point of viww of competition law, to the IMO raising issues on behalf of its members with the Minister.

The agreement also provides the IMO is to advise its members they should decide individually, and not collectively, whether to participate in the provision of publicly funded GP health services on such terms as are offered from time to time .

It was put before Mr Justice Max Barrett today under a settlement of proceedings by the Authority aainst the IMO arising from new fee cuts announced last year.

The judge received and filed the agreement and struck out the action, and the IMO’s counter-claim, with no order for costs.

In protest at the cuts, GP members of the IMO had threatened to withdraw from certain services but the authority initiated proceedings arguing that planned withdrawal, announced in July 2013, breached competition law.

The full hearing of the proceedings, listed for three weeks, was due to open yesterday but after talks between the sides, the settlement was announced today by Paul Sreenan SC, with Niamh Hyland SC, for the Authority after which Michael Cush SC, with Brian Murray SC, for the IMO, gave the undertaking set out in the settlement.

Mr Cush noted the various confirmations in the agreement provided by the authority. In its action, the Authority claimed the IMO’s decision to withdraw the relevant services with a view to preventing the Minister for Health reducing the fees payable under the GMS contract was prohibited under both Irish and EU competition law.

The IMO move came after the Minister announced further cuts in payments to GPs of about 7.5 per cent on average under financial emergency legislation.

The IMO held an emergency meeting about that after which it said its GP members would withdraw from primary care teams, community intervention teams and clinical care programmes for chronic diseases and would pull out of any work not covered under the terms of their contract with the HSE.

The authority argued withdrawing services, regardless of claims they may be free or pro bono, was regarded as an attempt to directly or indirectly fix the fees paid to GPs by the Government under the GMS contract.

It said self-employed GPs are subject to competition law unlike employees who may act collectively, represented by a trade union.

The IMO argued allowing GPs the right to be represented by their trade union in their negotiations with Government on services covered by the medical card and other services for public patients was “a matter of fairness and logic”.