Sir, – Recent reports from the Fine Gael parliamentary party have TDs announcing that the Minister for Health is now looking at the option of a third tier within universal health care to cover those who would traditionally have received discretionary cards.
I believe the Minister when he says he wants to see an end to a two-tier health care system. I just didn’t realise this would be achieved by adding another layer to an increasingly complex system. Top-down planning without the involvement of family doctors is not going to benefit anyone (certainly not the patients).
If the Minister would engage with family doctors, as happens in the UK, we have the solutions to many of the problems UHI is encountering. We share many of the same aspirations as the Minister, namely that healthcare should be on the basis of medical need rather than ability to pay. Personally I find it immensely saddening that the Minister and his department don’t see the wisdom of involving us in their planning.
The list of reasons not to sign the flawed draft under-six contract grows by the day, the latest being that medical insurance companies have expressed concerns that certain clauses within the document are not insurable against. I have not met a single doctor who intends to sign this document and worry about the patients who will automatically be removed from my list when this legislation is enacted.
Unless there is a silent cohort of my colleagues who intend to sign it, they may have to travel far to access medical treatment or indeed may have to present to A and E. They will certainly lose their ability to chose their doctor. All of this could be addressed if the Minister would engage properly with primary care. Yours, etc,
Dr SEAMUS McMENAMIN,
Baile Atha Luimnigh,
An Uaimh,
Co na Mhí