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General Practitioner Services

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 1 February 2022

Tuesday, 1 February 2022

Questions (735)

David Cullinane

Question:

735. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the last time that the HSE reviewed the general practice out-of-hours service; the recommendations of the review; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4782/22]

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Written answers

In 2010, the HSE published the first national review of GP Out of Hours Services around the country since the commencement of publicly funded GP Cooperatives in 1999. The report found that there were almost 1 million contacts with GP out of hours services in 2008 and that patient satisfaction was rated at over 90% for the majority of the out of hours services.

The report made a number of recommendations around treatment centres, call centres, payments to GPs, a standard Service Level Agreement etc. The report is available on the HSE website at www.hse.ie/eng/services/publications/corporate/ooh.html . The full list of recommendations can be found in Chapter 11 and Appendix 10 of the report.

The HSE is in regular contact with Out of Hours services. In particular, over the past two years there has been greater engagement to ensure that the services can continue to provide the supports needed by local communities. In recognition of the key role GP Out of Hours service providers play in the delivery of our health service and the challenges arising from the Covid-19 pandemic, a financial and service stability arrangement for GP Out of Hours cooperatives was introduced with effect from 14th March 2020.  

The 2019 GP Agreement on Service Development and Contractual Reform includes a commitment to undertake a strategic review of GP services within the lifetime of the Agreement, to examine how best to ensure the provision of GP services, including out of hours services, in Ireland for the future.  The outcome of this review will inform future contractual changes, with preparatory work for the review having begun this year.

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