Vol. 531 No. 3
247 Dr. Upton asked the Minister for Health and Children if general practitioners can refuse to accept medical card holders; the resort patients have if all the general practitioners in an area follow this line; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5770/01]
Health boards are required to provide general practitioner services to all medical card patients and such services are provided by doctors holding GMS scheme contracts. The contract sets out both the conditions under which services are to be provided to medical card holders and the relationship between the board and the contracted doctor in terms of accepting and assigning patients.
The contract provides that in a situation where a general practitioner does not wish to accept a particular patient, he or she can be requested by the board to provide, confidentially, the reasons for his or her unwillingness. Ultimately, however, under the contract, the board has the power to assign patients to ensure their medical needs are met. This power of assignment may only be used in the case of a person who has applied unsuccessfully to all those medical practitioners or to at least three of them, whichever is the lesser, who are contracted GMS scheme doctors in the area concerned. Where assignment takes place, there is provision for such assignment to be reviewed at the doctor's request after a six months' period. I am satisfied that the above contractual rules are adequate to ensure appropriate provision of general practitioner services to all medical card patients.
