A THREAT to patient services posed by a cut in professional fees and allowances to family doctors is expected to dominate the annual meeting of the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO), which begins in Killarney today.
However, junior hospital doctors will be constrained by legal factors from discussing the unilateral cut in their training grants by the Health Service Executive, which is the subject of a High Court action taken by the IMO.
Hospital consultants will discuss the failure of Minister for Health Mary Harney to implement all elements of the new consultant contract.
Doctors will debate a motion calling on the Government to introduce legislation that would ensure that alcohol and drug samples would be taken from all drivers involved in road traffic accidents where a person is injured or killed.
Dr Declan Bedford, a specialist in public health medicine in the northeast, will also propose a motion requesting the Minister for Transport to immediately reduce the drink driving limit to 50mg%.
But the looming threat to a wide range of primary care services if the Government goes ahead with plans to reduce allowances that enable GPs to employ practice nurses and administrators is likely to dominate discussions over the next three days.
Medical card patients and children due childhood vaccinations are among those who may suffer.
In a submission presented to the Department of Health, the doctors union said that services such as taking blood tests and providing wound and ulcer dressings, “currently delivered on a pro bono basis may have to be discontinued or, alternatively, GMS patients will have to charged for the provision of such services”.
The IMO said providing these services depends on having adequate nursing and secretarial staff. It said that if allowances currently paid to GPs enabling them to employ practice staff are subject to a planned 8 per cent reduction in professional fees by Government, many doctors may be forced to reduce staff hours. In some cases, they may make nurses and administrators redundant.
Ms Harney has indicated she will not be attending this year’s annual meeting due to a prior engagement.