Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 17 Oct 2001

Vol. 542 No. 3

Written Answers. - General Practitioner Co-operatives.

David Stanton

Question:

138 Mr. Stanton asked the Minister for Health and Children his views on the advantages and disadvantages of general practitioner co-operatives; the locations where such co-ops are in place or are in the process of being set up; the role of the State agencies and his Department in the setting up and operation of such co-operatives; the cost to the State in relation to these co-operatives; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24561/01]

Minister for Health and Children (Mr. Martin)

I regard the advent of the general practitioner co-operative as a positive initiative in the area of primary care providing a new, quality based approach founded on co-operation and partnership between the stakeholders. It is an appropriate and structured response to meeting the needs of contemporary society. My Department is committed to this development and is happy to support health boards in their endeavours.

The co-operatives operating at present are Caredoc in the South-Eastern Health Board area, NorthEast.Doc in the North-Eastern Health Board, K-Doc in the South-Western Area Health Board of the Eastern Regional Health Authority and NOW.Doc in the North-Western Health Board. In addition, a project is due to start this week in the Southern Health Board area which will cover west Cork and south Kerry.

In 2001, all health boards were allocated moneys to explore the establishment of co-ops. Many health boards have recruited project managers to progress the concept within their area and a consultative process is taking place with interested parties.

The two pilots, Caredoc and NorthEast.Doc are being independently evaluated. On receiving the first interim report of this evaluation, I said that I saw co-op models having a great deal to offer not only in terms of providing a specific general out of hours service but even more importantly in their potential for further development in terms of an expanded range of primary and community care services. The report, which is available on my Department's web site – www.doh.ie – outlined structural and operational areas that need to be resolved before the co-op model could be rolled out nationally. For example, the report raised serious concerns regarding levels of out of hours claims by general practitioners in certain individual instances. In this regard it must be pointed out that the service which is being offered by these co-operatives is provided in a value for money framework and proper controls are put in place to monitor costs.

In regard to the cost to the State in relation to these co-operatives, I presume the Deputy is referring to the additional costs involved in the operation of a region wide project which would be approximately £2.5 million per region. Certain other costs also arise, for example, the cost of the fees for general practitioners but these are already funded under the GMS scheme.