Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 26 Jun 2001

Vol. 539 No. 1

Written Answers. - Medical Charges.

Róisín Shortall

Question:

290 Ms Shortall asked the Minister for Health and Children if there are any regulations in force governing the frequency a patient can be charged by a general practitioner for services, treatment and advice on separate complaints; if it is permissible for a general practitioner to charge separately for a cholesterol check when the patient has already paid for examination of another complaint in the same visit; if his attention has been drawn to the concerns among patients that such charges constitute a deterrent to further visits and are not in the interests of good preventative health care; and his policy in relation to the general charges doctors may apply to patient visits. [19090/01]

Minister for Health and Children (Mr. Martin)

Patients do not pay their doctors for services under the general medical services scheme or under other State schemes such as the primary childhood immunisation scheme.

Where the relationship is a private one between the patient and the general practitioner, I do not, as Minister, have any role is setting fees. The practitioner concerned is free to charge such fee or fees for any services provided in any one consultation of group of related consultations that he or she considers appropriate.

If patients are unhappy either with the service provided or the fees charged they should raise the matter in the first instance with the general practitioner involved. If they remain dissatisfied on either score it is open to them to consider moving to another doctor who they believe will provide the required service at a more acceptable fee level.

However, I recognise that the fee paid for any medical service, as with any other professional service, affects decisions made by individual persons in relation to accessing services. Accordingly, the primary care review now under way will address not only the extent to which preventative services can be best provided in primary care but also the extent to which the State should be more involved in funding such services to ensure better take-up.