Vol. 438 No. 3
143 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for Health the criteria adopted by his Department when entering into negotiations on drug targets; the targets and agreement that have been reached for 1994; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
As part of the 1992 agreement on the General Medical Services (GMS) Scheme, there was an acceptance by representatives of general practitioners that savings would be achieved in GMS prescribing without adversely affecting the quality of patient care. The indicative drug target scheme which emerged from the agreement has resulted in a significant reduction in the trend increases which had been a feature of GMS drugs expenditure in recent years.
The criteria adopted by my Department in the negotiations on drug targets were that the overall target agreed should be reasonable and achievable and that there should be an equitable distribution of the target among individual doctors. A total amount of £144 million has been made available in 1994 to fund the cost of drugs in the GMS. This compares to a projected outturn figure of £138.9 million in 1993. The agreement reached with the Irish Medical Organisation in respect of the 1994 drug targets takes account of the views expressed by the health board general practice units arising from experiences gained through the operation of the scheme during 1993.
