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Hospital Charges

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 November 2010

Tuesday, 23 November 2010

Ceisteanna (172)

Shane McEntee

Ceist:

187 Deputy Shane McEntee asked the Minister for Health and Children the reason the doctor attached to a Garda station is obliged to see to the person held in custody only; and the reason a person accompanied to the station by the gardaí as the victim of an assault is later brought to accident and emergency and charged a hospital fee, when the fee would have been waived if the person had been brought by ambulance. [43904/10]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

Under the Health (Out-Patient Charges) Regulations 1994, a charge is made for services provided at designated accident and emergency or casualty departments. The charge applies to everyone with the exception of those who have a letter of referral from a registered medical practitioner and certain other categories of persons, such as persons with full eligibility, women receiving services in respect of motherhood, children up to the age of six weeks and children suffering from prescribed long term diseases.

My colleague, the Minister for Justice and Law Reform has confirmed that in all circumstances where a person requires medical attention, be they a person in custody, an injured party or a member of the public who has become unwell and whom a member of An Garda Síochána encounters in the course of their duty, the primary concern of An Garda Síochána is the well-being of the person concerned having regard to the duty, as provided for in section 7 of the Garda Síochána Act 2005, to protect life. The decision as to whether the circumstances require an ambulance to be summoned is dealt with on a case-by-case basis, in the best interest of the person. In relation to persons in custody, however, the Garda Síochána have a clearly defined particular legal responsibility. The Criminal Justice Act, 1984 (Treatment of Persons in Custody in Garda Síochána Stations) Regulations 1987 as amended, prescribe the standards for the treatment of persons detained. In relation to the attendance of a doctor at a Garda Station the regulations provide inter alia that if a person in custody appears to the member in charge to need medical attention, then he or she shall summon a doctor or cause one to be summoned.

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