Seán Barrett
Question:111 Mr. Barrett asked the Minister for Health and Children if the Government intends to carry out a review of general practice services; and if so, the scope and timescale of any such review. [9976/01]
Vol. 534 No. 1
111 Mr. Barrett asked the Minister for Health and Children if the Government intends to carry out a review of general practice services; and if so, the scope and timescale of any such review. [9976/01]
Health board chief executive officers, with significant input from my Department, undertook a major review of general medical practice which they completed last September. In particular the review was concerned to systematically enumerate those existing infrastructural difficulties which currently impede progress and to provide a vision of the future development of general practice.
I recently obtained Government agreement to move forward in this area. The next stage of the review process will therefore involve a major consultative exercise with the relevant representative bodies, in particular, the Irish Medical Organisation and the Irish College of General Practitioners which have jointly produced their own vision statement on the future development of general practice. That statement will also be fully considered in the planned consultative process.