Despite repeated assurances from Minister for Health Mary Harney that GPs would not be paid extra for seeing patients with the doctor-only medical cards she plans to introduce, the doctors have now been offered once-off payments worth a total of €7 million for seeing patients with these cards.
The offer came in a series of recommendations from the Labour Relations Commission (LRC) yesterday, which have been welcomed by Ms Harney.
The LRC recommended that, in addition to the annual capitation allowance given to GPs in payment for seeing medical card holders, they should be paid a once-off fee of €35 for each patient they sign up with a doctor-only medical card.
Ms Harney announced in the November estimates that she would provide 200,000 doctor-only medical cards this year. They have not been issued, as a result of the dispute with the GP representative body, the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO).
The IMO was also in dispute with health service employers on a number of other issues, including the withholding of 2 per cent pay rises due to GPs under national pay agreements on three separate occasions in recent years. A 1.5 per cent increase due to GPs on June 1st was also withheld and there had been a failure to include them in benchmarking.
The LRC has recommended the GPs receive a 7.5 per cent pay increase in compensation for the pay rounds which were withheld. This will amount to €48.5 million in backpay for GPs.
It also recommended a 9.75 per cent increase for GPs under benchmarking, which will cost the State €35 million in a full year.
The total cost of the recommendations, if implemented this year, will be about €93 million.
For these increases, GPs must agree to a review of their medical card contracts, to joint management of the General Medical Services (GMS) patient register to ensure "ghost" patients are not on the register, and to participate in emergency planning.
They must agree to increased use of information and communications technology to improve efficiency, and for their performance to be verified for future pay increases by the health sector performance verification group.
The IMO's GP committee will meet this evening to consider accepting the LRC's recommendations or balloting its 2,000-plus GP members affected.
The chief executive of the Health Service Executive Employers Agency, Gerard Barry, welcomed the LRC's recommendations and said he would be accepting them.
Ms Harney also welcomed them and said they would allow her issue the doctor-only medical cards promised.
"The HSE will shortly ... advertise the new cards with a view to having them issued by next month. I would encourage people on low incomes to apply for them right away," she said.