Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 3 October 2023
693. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health to outline, in full, the details of the new GMS GP deal agreed over the summer of 2023; and the full extent of changes made to the GMS contract as a result of this deal, in tabular form. [42740/23]
View answerThe GP Agreement 2023 between the Department of Health, the HSE and the IMO, which was announced July last, is available publicly from the websites of the Department of Health and the HSE. The Agreement provides for the expansion of GP care without charges to all children aged 6 & 7, via the Under 8s Contract, and the expansion of GP care without charges to all those who earn no more than the median household income. The Agreement also provides for a range of additional supports for general practice.
Unfortunately, tabular format is not suitable to capture in full all the provisions of the Agreement. For participating GPs, the Agreement sets out:
• increased capitation fees, an approximate €35 rate increase for GMS patients aged 6 and 7 and a 10% rate increase for GMS patients aged 8 to 69 inclusive.
• a substantial increase to the existing practice staff subsidy rates and a new grant subsidy for additional practice staff up to €15,000,
• a new support for practice staff during maternity leave,
• a €2 million additional support for GP Out of Hours services,
• increased special items of services fees for contraception services for female GMS patients outside the Free Contraception Service,
• the expansion and rollout of phase 3 of the Chronic Disease Management programme, and
• funding for pilot initiatives in relation to hard to fill GMS GP vacancies and locum cover for rural GPs.
The Agreement also sets out certain operationalisation issues, including arrangements to improve the equitable distribution of assigned patients across GP’s panels and the establishment of a joint HSE/IMO working group to review the operation of the patient assignment protocol.
The full details of these provisions are set out within the Agreement. The capitation rates and the increased practice staff subsidy rates set out under the Agreement are provided below.
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Capitation Rates applicable to GPs participating under the GP Agreement 2023 |
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Child Patient Aged under 6 years |
€125 |
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Child Patient Aged between 6 and 7 years (inclusive) |
€100 |
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Child Patient Aged between 8 and 12 years (inclusive) |
€100 |
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Male patient aged 13 years or more and less than 16 years |
€70.71 |
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Male patient aged 16 years or more and less than 45 years |
€90.26 |
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Male patient aged 45 years or more and less than 65 years |
€180.29 |
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Male patient aged 65 years or more and less than 70 years |
€189.92 |
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Patient aged 70 years or more residing in the community |
€403.31 |
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Patient aged 70 years or more residing in a private nursing home (approved by the HSE) for continuous periods in excess of 5 weeks |
€644.63 |
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Female patient aged 13 years or more and less than 16 years |
€71.52 |
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Female patient aged 16 years or more and less than 45 years |
€147.60 |
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Female patient aged 45 years or more and less than 65 years |
€198.10 |
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Female patient aged 65 years or more and less than 70 years |
€211.87 |
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Practice Staff Support Subsidy Rates under the GP Agreement 2023 |
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Nursing subsidy (per year) - 1 years’ experience |
€35,210.25 |
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Nursing subsidy (per year) - 2 years’ experience |
€37,284.00 |
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Nursing subsidy (per year) - 3 years’ experience |
€39,353.25 |
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Nursing subsidy (per year) - 4 or more years’ experience |
€43,725.75 |
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Practice administrator subsidy (per year) - 1 years’ experience |
€22,844.25 |
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Practice administrator subsidy (per year) - 2 years’ experience |
€24,749.25 |
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Practice administrator subsidy (per year) - 3 or more years’ experience |
€26,652.00 |
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Practice manager subsidy (per year) |
€41,643.75 |
