Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 13 October 2022
364. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Minister for Health his views on GPs using a different pricing scale when treating menopausal patients for HRT treatment; the reason for same; if this is standard practice; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50806/22]
View answer437. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to an issue presenting at a medical centre (details supplied) where initial consultations for patients experiencing menopause are over twice as expensive as general consultations, and repeat prescriptions for treatment for menopause are charged at three-times more than other repeat prescriptions; his views on whether this practice is discriminatory; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50920/22]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 364 and 437 together.
Under the terms of the current GMS contract, GPs are required to provide eligible patients with ''all proper and necessary treatment of a kind usually undertaken by a general practitioner and not requiring special skill or experience of a degree or kind which general practitioners cannot reasonably be expected to possess." There is no provision under the GMS GP contract for persons who hold a medical card or GP visit card to be charged for medical services provided under the contract.
GPs are reimbursed by the HSE for medical services provided to medical card or GP visit card holders, while patients who do not hold a medical card or GP visit card access GP services on a private basis. I have no role in relation to the fees charged by individual GPs for services to private patients as they are a matter of private contract between the clinician and their patient.
Progressing women’s health is a priority for this government. Among the initiatives undertaken for the improvement of women’s health services is the development of six specialist menopause clinics. While the majority of women who seek support for their menopause can be effectively supported by their GP, a proportion of symptomatic women will require specialist medical expertise in menopause; it is intended these more complex cases can be dealt with, upon referral by their GP, in a specialist menopause clinic.
Three specialist clinics have been opened with a fourth scheduled to be open next week. It is anticipated that the last two clinics in Cork and Galway will open before the end of this year, which will result in a total of six such clinics nationwide, one in each maternity network, for women who require complex, specialist care.
In addition, the HSE’s National Women & Infants Health Programme are in the process of establishing a Professional Menopause Network which will comprise the clinical leads in this area from across the region and will include representation from the Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP). The purpose of this network is to promote standardised care for women accessing the specialist clinics, but also to allow health professionals to learn from one another particularly in the implementation phase. It is also intended that clinical teams within the specialist menopause clinic setting will provide advice and guidance to GPs in the community to support the effective management of menopausal symptoms for women closer to home within primary care.
