A chara, – The draft contract for providing free medical services for children under six is an aspirational document. It is difficult to argue with its aims in seeking to move healthcare away from treating illnesses to prevention. Most if not all family doctors would support this.
It is also a radical document. The administrative burden in this 60-page document would seem to preclude family doctors from having the time to see any sick people, which is radical.
Given that Ireland has the second lowest number of family doctors per capita in the OECD (approximately two-thirds of what we need) and many practices are severely stretched to manage the existing workload, it does not seem credible that this contract could be introduced without having a detrimental effect on patient access and safety.
In the UK patients wait approximately two-three weeks to see a GP and they have over four times the funding that we have, (2 per cent of health care budget here versus 9 per cent). Unfortunately the contract also contains a “gagging clause” that will prevent us from highlighting these safety issues and advocating for our patients for fear of “denigrating” the HSE.
It makes one wonder if they should have discussed it with the various GP organisations before they drafted it rather than discussing it afterwards. – Yours, etc,
SÉAMUS McMENAMIN,
Family Doctor,
Baile Atha Luimnigh,
An Uaimh,
Co Na Mhí.