There has been no mass exodus of GPs from the country as a result of the cuts to State fees and allowances put in place over recent years, the Department of Health has told the Government.
In a report to then minister for health Dr James Reilly on the annual review of the impact of financial emergency legislation, the Department of Health said that information available from the HSE did not support the contention of the Irish Medical Organisation that young GPs were leaving the country in large numbers.
The report said that, since restrictions on GPs entering the the general medical services scheme were lifted in 2012, a total of 218 doctors had obtained contracts. It said a further 69 GPs who had previously held limited access to the scheme, had obtained full contracts.
On April 30th, 2014, a total of 2,416 GPs were contracted to provide services under the GMS scheme, the report said. This compares with 2,413 at the end of 2013; 2,353 at the end of 2012; 2,277 at the end of 2011; 2,258 at the end of 2010; 2,136 at the end of 2009; and 2,098 at the end of 2008.
Emergency legislation
“In other words, the number of GPs holding GMS contracts has continued to increase over the period [the financial emergency legislation] FEMPI has been in place”, the department report said.
Since the introduction of financial emergency legislation in 2009, GPs have experienced a series of cuts to fees and allowances, cumulatively amounting to €121 million per year.
However, the Department of Health report said that the impact of these fee reductions “has been greatly mitigated by the ongoing increase in the number of medical card patients, up from 1,352,120 in January 2009 to 1,800,182 on 30 April 2014”.
“The IMO would argue that new medical card holders represent lost private income, but this is guaranteed income and in many cases, these young and healthy people – infrequent visitors to their GP – who have become unemployed because of the current financial downturn.”
The department said that the fee reductions under the financial emergency legislation had not had a negative impact on the operation of the State medical schemes.
Keep fee cuts
The department urged that the fee cuts should remain in place. Dr Reilly accepted these arguments and agreed in a memo at the end of June that the measures should remain in place.
Department of Health officials told the then minister that most people in the country accessed GP services on a private basis, with 40 per cent covered by either a full medical card or a GP visit card.
