Vol. 537 No. 4
89 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Health and Children the number of general practitioner co-operatives set up throughout the country; and the reason for the ongoing delay in allocating funds to establish such co-operatives. [16370/01]
90 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Health and Children the general practitioner co-operatives which have received funds from his Department to date; the amounts allocated in each case; and the number of applications received for general practitioner co-operatives. [16371/01]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 89 and 90 together.
I am committed to addressing the issue of providing an appropriate and structured general practice out of hours service. Accordingly, two major general practitioner out of hours co-ops have been formally established by my Department on a pilot basis in the North-Eastern Health Board and South-Eastern Health Board. Both of these are currently being evaluated and the results of the first stage of the evaluation will be available in late June.
At that time, I propose to hold a rescheduled national conference on this important subject which will allow all interested parties to have their say on how precisely the out of hours response can best be framed. In that regard, I have to make it clear that the co-op model is only one type of out of hours structure. Other models may well be feasible and even preferable in particular locations throughout the country. For example, in Dublin, DUBDOC already operates from St. James's Hospital as an out of hours GP project.
From the outset, my Department has made it clear that no further out of hours projects could be formally sanctioned until the pilot evaluations were concluded. This is wholly consistent with a logical approach to ensuring that the matter is effectively and properly addressed from the perspective of ensuring working models that provide quality patient care on an equal basis between urban and rural communities. The process is also intended to be an incremental one with structures being developed strategically throughout the country building on experience gained and the optimum utilisation of resources. The next scheduled operational development is in the Southern Health Board area and that is due to commence this year.
All health boards received some funding this year to allow them, at the very least, examine the infrastructural and other issues relevant to developing appropriate out of hours structures in their particular areas. The details are set out below:
|
Eastern Regional Health Authority |
£260,000 |
|
Midland Health Board |
£160,000 |
|
Mid-Western Health Board |
£140,000 |
|
North-Eastern Health Board |
£1,300,000(ongoing pilot) |
|
North-Western Health Board |
£100,000 |
|
South-Eastern Health Board |
£850,000(ongoing pilot) |
|
Southern Health Board |
£630,000 |
|
Western Health Board |
£125,000 |
|
Total |
£3,565,000 |
