Vol. 512 No. 7
23 Mr. S. Ryan asked the Minister for Health and Children the action, if any, he will take to ensure that consultants do not breach Medical Council guidelines by accepting private patients on the basis of self-referral in view of long waiting lists; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27064/99]
The Medical Council is the autonomous statutory body which has the responsibility for overseeing the behaviour and conduct of registered medical practitioners. One of the ways in which the council discharges this function is through the regular publication of a set of ethical guidelines for the advice of members of the profession and the general public. Breaches of the guidelines are a matter for the council to investigate and, if appropriate, to take appropriate disciplinary action against the doctor concerned.
Ireland is fortunate in having a well developed and highly regarded general practitioner service. Considerable effort has been invested in educating the public on making best use of their general practitioner. It is obviously important that the most effective use is made by patients and GPs of access to the specialised services provided by consultants. It is clearly not in the interest of GPs or consultants that patients should be able to refer themselves directly to consultant level services. I am not aware that this is a problem and I would be concerned if any patient were able to gain priority access to consultants on the basis of self referral.
