GP Services Bill will mean greater access for patients – Deputy Humphreys

Cavan-Monaghan Fine Gael TD Heather Humphreys has said that changes proposed under the new GP Services Bill represent good news for both patients and for young doctors.

Speaking in the Dail on the Health (Provision of General Practitioner Services) Bill 2011, Deputy Humphreys said that the Bill would remove current restrictions on GPs wishing to treat patients under the medical card scheme.

“This bill will provide for the elimination of restrictions on General Practitioners wishing to obtain contracts to treat public patients under the General Medical Services (GMS) Scheme. This will in turn open up access to GMS contracts to all fully qualified and vocationally trained GPs.

“As we all know, medical cards and GP visit cards are an absolute necessity for those on low income. The proposed changes to the GMS contract system will mean that card holders will be provided with greater access to GP services.

“The bill will also mean that there will be no limits on the number of contractors and all new GMS doctors will be free to establish their practice in the location of their choice.

“In this respect, I think it is important that the establishment of practices should be monitored by the Department. While increased competition is of course a healthy development I also think that there should be an element of caution applied.

“We do not want a situation to arise whereby Doctors only set up their practices in the larger city areas due to higher population density. It is important that rural areas should be covered adequately. I am aware that in my own constituency, Co Monaghan has one of the lower ratios of GPs per population. With that in mind, I believe that there should be incentives for GPs to establish their practise in areas that currently have limited services.

“One of the key objectives behind this bill is to encourage young GPs to remain in Ireland and to establish their practices here. In recent times, it has been well documented the high number of young talented people in the medical profession who are leaving Ireland to seek work elsewhere. These are people whom the State are investing in and who receive their education in Ireland only to depart once they have completed their studies. We need to make sure that we do all within our power to ensure that these people remain in Ireland as these are the exact sort of people who will ultimately help to improve the health services in this country. We cannot allow a situation to continue whereby we are simply educating our young doctors for export.

“I note that the Competition Authority have responded very positively to the publication of this bill describing it as “great news for everyone who goes to a GP. While I largely concur with those sentiments, I think it is also important to point out that GP practices are not like convenience stores. The local GP represents an integral part of any community and in that respect there should be clear distinctions between quantity, cost and quality in respect of GP practices when compared to other industries. I agree that an increase in competition is healthy, however as with any other enterprise the ultimate goal should always be to encourage better services and in this instance better quality of care for patients.”

Cavan-Monaghan Fine Gael TD Heather Humphreys has said that changes proposed under the new GP Services Bill represent good news for both patients and for young doctors.

Speaking in the Dail on the Health (Provision of General Practitioner Services) Bill 2011, Deputy Humphreys said that the Bill would remove current restrictions on GPs wishing to treat patients under the medical card scheme.

“This bill will provide for the elimination of restrictions on General Practitioners wishing to obtain contracts to treat public patients under the General Medical Services (GMS) Scheme. This will in turn open up access to GMS contracts to all fully qualified and vocationally trained GPs.

“As we all know, medical cards and GP visit cards are an absolute necessity for those on low income. The proposed changes to the GMS contract system will mean that card holders will be provided with greater access to GP services.

“The bill will also mean that there will be no limits on the number of contractors and all new GMS doctors will be free to establish their practice in the location of their choice.

“In this respect, I think it is important that the establishment of practices should be monitored by the Department. While increased competition is of course a healthy development I also think that there should be an element of caution applied.

“We do not want a situation to arise whereby Doctors only set up their practices in the larger city areas due to higher population density. It is important that rural areas should be covered adequately. I am aware that in my own constituency, Co Monaghan has one of the lower ratios of GPs per population. With that in mind, I believe that there should be incentives for GPs to establish their practise in areas that currently have limited services.

“One of the key objectives behind this bill is to encourage young GPs to remain in Ireland and to establish their practices here. In recent times, it has been well documented the high number of young talented people in the medical profession who are leaving Ireland to seek work elsewhere. These are people whom the State are investing in and who receive their education in Ireland only to depart once they have completed their studies. We need to make sure that we do all within our power to ensure that these people remain in Ireland as these are the exact sort of people who will ultimately help to improve the health services in this country. We cannot allow a situation to continue whereby we are simply educating our young doctors for export.

“I note that the Competition Authority have responded very positively to the publication of this bill describing it as “great news for everyone who goes to a GP. While I largely concur with those sentiments, I think it is also important to point out that GP practices are not like convenience stores. The local GP represents an integral part of any community and in that respect there should be clear distinctions between quantity, cost and quality in respect of GP practices when compared to other industries. I agree that an increase in competition is healthy, however as with any other enterprise the ultimate goal should always be to encourage better services and in this instance better quality of care for patients.”