Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 7 November 2017
633. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Health the number of occasions his Department or HSE officials have met the Irish Medical Organisation as part of the talks on a new general practitioners' contract to date in 2017. [45703/17]
View answer634. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Health the number of occasions his Department or HSE officials have met the National Association of General Practitioners as part of the talks on a new general practitioners' contract to date in 2017. [45704/17]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 633 and 634 together.
The development of primary care is central to the Government's objective to deliver a high-quality, integrated and cost effective health service. The Programme for Government commits to a decisive shift within the health service towards primary care in order to deliver better care close to home in communities across the country. The development of a new, modernised contract for the provision of general practitioner services will be a key element in facilitating this process. The aim is to develop a contract which has a population health focus, providing in particular for health promotion and disease prevention and for the structured ongoing care of chronic conditions.
A process has been put in place for engagement with GP representatives which honours the Framework Agreement in place with the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) and includes formal consultation between the State side and the National Association of General Practitioners (NAGP). This allows the NAGP to have a formal role for the first time and potentially to make a positive and meaningful contribution to the contracts development process. Meetings with the IMO are generally held on a fortnightly basis and consultative meetings with the NAGP on a monthly basis.
To date in 2017, there have been sixteen formal meetings between the HSE/Department of Health and IMO negotiating teams. In addition, there have a number of further informal meetings to discuss technical and clinical issues. There have been eight consultative meetings with the NAGP to date in 2017.
