Vol. 526 No. 4
279 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Health and Children if he will deliver vaccines to general practitioner surgeries and supply larger vaccine fridges in order to reduce the problems being experienced in the three major national immunisation campaigns. [26961/00]
The arrangements for the delivery of vaccines to general practitioners are an operational matter for the health boards in the first instance. In most cases general practitioners collect vaccine supplies from their health board.
In the context of planning for the meningococcal C immunisation programme, health boards considered the arrangements in place for the supply of vaccine to general practitioners. In some regions the number of vaccine supply points has been increased, in order to facilitate collection. I also understand that in some health boards arrangements have been made to have vaccine delivered to doctors' practices.
General practitioners, as private contractors, are responsible in the first instance for ensuring that their practice is appropriately equipped. Where immunisation is concerned, this includes having appropriate refrigeration facilities for vaccine storage.
The planning process for the meningococcal C immunisation programme also included consideration of the adequacy of vaccine fridge capacity at general practice level. Financial support was therefore available from health boards to assist doctors with the purchase of vaccine fridges, where additional capacity was necessary.
280 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Health and Children if he will make a statement on recent comments by general practitioners who have described the current flu vaccine campaign as a glorious failure due to the chronic shortage of supplies and in view of the fact that general practitioners had to turn away patients, some of them on kidney dialysis machines because supplies of vaccines had been exhausted. [26962/00]
Annual immunisation against influenza is recommended for persons over 65 years of age and for other persons with certain conditions, such as chronic respiratory or heart disease. Advice was received this year from the National Immunisation Committee of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, that health care workers who have direct patient contact in health care institutions such as hospitals, nursing homes etc. should also receive the influenza vaccine. In the light of these recommendations my Department asked the health boards to promote the annual immunisation against influenza of health care workers in health board and non-health board settings, that is, hospitals, nursing homes and, where considered appropriate, in the community also.
