asked the Minister for Health if, in order to facilitate patients requiring a doctor after dispensary hours, he will consider the installation of telephone answering machines in large Dublin dispensaries.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Dispensary Telephone Answering Machines.
2.
Provision of telephone answering machines in the large Dublin dispensaries is a matter primarily for the Eastern Health Board. However, I do not consider that this is an appropriate time to take a decision on the provision of such devices, having regard to the proposed introduction of a scheme giving a choice of doctor to patients eligible for general medical services.
Is the Minister aware that under the blue card system many patients have to travel some distance to a dispensary to find out which doctor is on duty for emergency calls and they may then have to go and try to find a telephone kiosk? If they could ring the dispensary and hear a recording of the doctor's name this would be of great help to them.
There is probably something in what the Deputy says but now we are going into the choice of doctor scheme. I think it would be wrong to engage in what would be a comparatively expensive operation in supplying these telephone answering machines.