Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 17 September 2014
75. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she has examined the idea of the development of guidelines by her Department for release to general practitioners and other medical professionals in relation to the preparation of medical reports for inclusion in applications submitted by persons seeking certain social protection payments. [33333/14]
View answerIt is the policy of my Department to review application forms for the individual illness related schemes on a regular basis, including those parts of forms that relate to the provision of medical evidence. The design of the medical evidence part of application forms is undertaken in consultation with the Chief Medical Advisor and the Medical Research team. Medical reports which GPs are required to complete are designed to gather relevant quality information to assist the Department’s medical assessors and decision makers. With regard to certification for illness benefit, evidence-based ‘Closed Certification’ guidelines have been developed by the Department’s medical team to assist GPs in certifying for appropriate durations for patients with common health problems. These guidelines are based on extensive international research. A recent 6 month research study was conducted involving 128 randomly selected GPs. Responding to a questionnaire survey over 80% of participating GP respondents considered these guidelines; to be helpful in their interactions with patients, resulted in better health outcomes for their patients and that these guidelines should be rolled out nationally. A more detailed statistical evaluation of claim duration is being conducted by the Department which will decide on future plans for roll-out and refinement of ‘Closed Certification’ based on this research.
