Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 9 Oct 2002

Vol. 554 No. 5

Written Answers. - General Practitioner Co-operatives.

John McGuinness

Ceist:

986 Mr. McGuinness asked the Minister for Health and Children if he will investigate a complaint made by a person (details supplied) in Dublin 8 which was submitted to the South Eastern Health Board on 22 June 2002 raising questions regarding the Caredoc service and the treatment of their mother; if he is satisfied with the overall efficiency of the service; his views on the reaction time; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15834/02]

Minister for Health and Children (Mr. Martin):

The complaint referred to by the Deputy has been thoroughly investigated by the South Eastern Health Board which has issued a detailed response to the complainant. I have been advised by the health board that within ten minutes of the call being received by Caredoc, the triage nurse on duty passed the call on to a doctor, having first spoken to both the complainant and the patient.

The doctor arrived at the patient's home some 31 minutes later and remained there with the patient until the ambulance arrived. I am satisfied that both in this case and in overall terms the response time and efficiency of the service provided by the out of hours GP co-operatives are a significant improvement on those which existed prior to their establishment.