Vol. 488 No. 2
151 Mrs. Owen asked the Minister for Health and Children if he will make provision whereby a patient who has been granted a medical card can continue to be treated by their own general practitioner even if that doctor has not yet acquired a general medical services list. [5898/98]
Under the terms of the general medical services scheme, a medical card holder is offered a choice of doctors participating in the scheme from which he or she can receive, free of cost, the full range of available services. Entry by general practitioners to the GMS scheme is by way of open competition which ensures that all participating doctors are competent to offer a professional and high level of patient care. While a medical card holder may not be able to continue with the particular doctor he or she may previously have had, I am, nevertheless, satisfied that the needs of medical card holders are met within the terms of the scheme.
