asked the Minister for Health if he has any proposals to introduce some level of control in terms of general practitioners' referrals and consultants into catchment areas.
Written Answers. - Medical Referrals.
184.
The situation on the ground is that the majority of patients are, in fact, referred by their general practitioners in the first instance to the consultants at the local general hospital. My Department's policy is to develop an integrated network of services, including the general hospital service, on a catchment area basis and this will facilitate the provision of a comprehensive health care service to all patients within the area. However, I believe that patients themselves and their general practitioners should be allowed a reasonable degree of flexibility and choice and I am not convinced that any problems created by the existing arrangements are so great as to warrant the effective removal of this level of patient and doctor freedom. If a hospital provides a level of activity which adequately meets the requirements of its catchment area it will attract the patients within the catchment area and the family doctors will be happy to refer their patients to them.