asked the Minister for Health whether there is any obligation, other than that which rests on any private doctor, for a medical officer to attend an accident case which occurs in his dispensary district; and if not, why.
181.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Obligation of Medical Officers to Attend Accident Cases.
180.
asked the Minister for Health whether a medical officer may refuse to attend an accident case where the person involved is the holder of a medical card from the local authority in which he normally resides but has been injured outside this local authority area; and, if so, why the expense cannot be borne by the local authority as a refund to the authority providing the service, as in the case of hospitalisation.
With your permission, a Cheann Comhairle, I propose to take Questions Nos. 180 and 181 together.
The obligations of a district medical officer as such are to provide general medical services for persons entitled to them under section 14 of the Health Act, 1953. The obligations extend only to the provision of services within the dispensary district and normally to persons resident in that district. This has been the position for a very long time. In practice, however, most district medical officers—and indeed most doctors—will provide services according to medical need in emergencies without regard to the niceties of contractual obligations. This is borne out by the virtual absence of complaint that eligible persons were unable to obtain attention in circumstances such as those mentioned in the questions.
On present information I do not feel that it is necessary to introduce any change in the system as it operates in this respect at present but I shall bear the point in mind in formulating the new proposals for choice of doctor as envisaged in the White Paper on the Health Services and their Further Development.