Vol. 478 No. 1
56 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for Health if he will co-operate with the Irish College of General Practitioners' examination of the effects of the indicative drug budgeting system on Irish health care, as published in an article (details supplied), and in view of his Department's unpublished evaluation of drug budgeting by a person (details supplied) in Cork; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10390/97]
Limerick East): A study on the effects of the indicative drug target scheme in the general medical services scheme, on the quality of patient care was commissioned in May, 1995, by the Southern Health Board in conjunction with my Department.The study, which is chaired by Professor Michael Murphy, professor of clinical pharmacology, University College, Cork was commissioned in the context of ensuring that the best management practices, both medical and administrative, are or will be followed with respect to the scheme and to provide the Department and the health boards with a qualitative overview of the effects of the scheme. I am assured that the report of this study will be available early next month.
While I have received no specific proposals from the Irish College of General Practitioners in regard to an initiative on prescribing, I understand that the college, in the context of ensuring quality care in general practice, is considering undertaking an examination, on an ongoing basis, of the overall effects of cost effective prescribing, including the impact of the indicative drug target scheme and taking account of the "Murphy" study. Having regard to the college's role in the education and training of general practitioners, I see no difficulty in the Department and/or the health boards co-operating fully with such an initiative.
