Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 16 May 2001

Vol. 536 No. 3

Written Answers - Cardio-vascular Scheme.

Bernard Allen

Question:

178 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Health and Children the reason he is proposing a pilot project for the proposed primary care cardio-vascular scheme in view of the fact that the general opinion of general practitioners is that living in a population of fewer than four million people would in itself be a pilot project in other countries and that one third of the resources that were meant to go into primary care had not yet been achieved. [14131/01]

Minister for Health and Children (Mr. Martin)

The first phase of the programme of structured care in general practice is scheduled to commence this year. A total of £2 million has been set aside nationally for this purpose in 2001. The initial 12 months of the programme is being called the first phase, as opposed to a pilot programme, to indicate that it is intended to further develop the programme in the years to come following an evaluation of the first phase. However, this is a large and complex undertaking and it will be important to learn as many lessons as possible from this first phase which can then be applied as the programme is expanded.

Patients to be included in the scheme as a priority in the first phase are patients who have had a myocardial infarction, a coronary artery angioplasty – medical – procedure or coronary artery bypass surgery. The evaluation of the first phase of the programme of structured care in general practice of patients with cardio-vascular disease will permit more accurate quantification of the workload involved and of the resources required to deliver the service. In addition, the process evaluation will collect the views of all those involved, especially patients, GPs and practice nurses, as to how the system can be improved before it is further expanded. Given that this is the first programme of its kind in general practice in Ireland, it would not be prudent to implement the programme at full capacity without first examining in more detail its clinical aspects, the resources required and the best structures for delivering it. The evaluation of structure and process which will be carried out as part of the first phase will permit the implementation of a more effective and efficient service to patients as the programme is further expanded.