Bernard Allen
Ceist:320 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Health and Children his views on the special treatment consultations for out-of-hours work for general practitioner co-operatives. [27750/01]
Written Answers. - GP Co-Operatives.
The method of payment to doctors participating in out-of-hours co-operatives is one of the issues dealt with by sponsors when plans for co-operatives are being developed. As the Deputy is aware, different methods of payment are used by the existing co-operatives at present. One of the recommendations of the recent evaluation was that the remuneration payable should be based on an agreed annual pay budget. Historical data in the form of special type consultation costs have been used by boards to determine the annual budget figures.