asked the Minister for Health if he will direct that all record cards and referral forms used in the general medical services be standardised.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Medical Records Standardisation.
27.
At present in the general medical service doctors are using either cards designed by the Royal College of General Practitioners or by the Department or are using their own system of record keeping. During the current discussions on the review of the general medical services the question of standardisation was raised with the medical organisations' representatives and it was agreed that doctors entering the scheme would in future use either the forms designed by the Royal College or the Department. There is little essential difference between these two designs.
It would be very desirable to have a nationally accepted standard referral form in use when a patient is being referred by his doctor to hospital for treatment or investigation. I would hope it would be possible to achieve this in the foreseeable future and my Department are looking into the matter.