Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 6 February 2018
324. Deputy Pat Deering asked the Minister for Health the measures he will introduce to make general practice more attractive to young doctors; his plans to review the FEMPI legislation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5364/18]
Amharc ar fhreagra332. Deputy Fiona O'Loughlin asked the Minister for Health the progress on the general practitioner contractual review process that is under way; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5391/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 324 and 332 together.
The development of primary care is central to the Government's objective to deliver a high-quality, integrated and cost effective health service for patients in Ireland. The Programme for Government commits to shifting the model of Irish healthcare towards a more comprehensive and accessible service that can deliver better patient care closer to home in communities across the country. The Sláintecare report of the Oireachtas Committee on the Future of Healthcare supported a shift to primary and community-based care.
General Practitioners play an important role in the primary care system. There is a clear need to modernise the GMS contract and ensure that general practice is a viable and rewarding career for medical graduates. My aim is to develop a contract which has a population health focus, providing in particular for health promotion and disease prevention and for the structured ongoing care of chronic conditions. A new contract must be flexible and be able to respond to the changing nature of the GP workforce. It must also include provisions in relation to service quality and standards, performance, accountability and transparency. This will be key in making general practice a more attractive career. I am confident that with the continued constructive engagement of the parties involved, progress on these important issues can be made in the period ahead.
The Government is also committed to the continued development of GP capacity to ensure that patients across the country continue to have access to GP services and that general practice is sustainable in all areas into the future. I want to ensure that existing GP services are retained and that general practice remains an attractive career option for newly qualified GPs.
Efforts undertaken in recent years to increase the number of practising GPs include changes to the entry provisions to the GMS scheme to accommodate more flexible/shared GMS/GP contracts, and to the retirement provisions for GPs under the GMS scheme, allowing GPs to hold GMS contracts until their 72nd birthday, as well as the introduction of enhanced supports for rural GP practices. These steps should help to address the future demand for GPs by enticing GPs who may have ceased practicing for family or other reasons back into the workforce, facilitating GPs to work past the standard retirement age and encouraging more GPs to work in rural areas.
Separately, the State is seeking to train more GPs to provide GP services to the population. In 2009, there were 120 GP training places and in 2018 there are 198 places available, an increase of 65% over this nine-year period. The Government is committed to further increasing this number to 259 places annually in future years.
As with other health professionals, GPs were subject to fee reductions under FEMPI. In the context of the publication by my colleague, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, of the Public Service Pay and Pension Bill 2017, on 7 November 2017, I announced that in 2018 I will undertake a process of engagement with representative bodies of contracted health professionals, aimed at putting in place a new multi-annual approach to fees, in return for service improvement and contractual reform and in line with Government priorities for the health service. I am currently considering, along with the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, the most appropriate approach in this regard. I expect engagement to begin shortly.
