Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 18 April 2024
307. Deputy Violet-Anne Wynne asked the Minister for Health to provide an update on a patient who needed the services of Shannondoc in north Clare, was told they had to make their way to the service to get treatment and Shannondoc refused to do a call-out to the house; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17225/24]
View answer308. Deputy Violet-Anne Wynne asked the Minister for Health if Shannondoc will arrange for a GP to call to a patient's home if they cannot find transport into the service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17226/24]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 307 and 308 together.
GPs contracted under the GMS Scheme are required to make arrangements for their patients to be able to make contact outside of normal practice hours. Commonly, GPs will work with out of hours co-operatives to meet this requirement. In the Mid-West region, the out-of-hours arrangements are discharged through Shannondoc.
While GP out of hours cooperatives such as Shannondoc are private organisations, the HSE provides significant funding to support them through service level agreements. As this a service matter, I have asked the HSE to respond to the Deputy directly on this matter, as soon as possible.
