Family doctors the key to A&E crisis, say Labour

THE A&E crisis could be significantly eased by a radical switch in focus to family doctors and community services, Labour said yesterday.

Unveiling plans for a health service shake-up, if they win power, party leader Pat Rabbitte also pledged to extend the medical card to 40% of the population.

Labour health spokesperson Liz McManus declined to give a definite timetable for eliminating the patients-on-trolleys crisis blighting many A&E units, but pledged there would be a significant improvement in the situation within the first year of a Rainbow government.

Mr Rabbitte said providing more beds and beefing-up local community services were the keys to unlocking the bed-blocking problems in hospitals.

“Prioritising primary care means that far fewer people end up in hospital, particularly A&E.

“Primary care is not healthcare on the cheap, but it is common sense to ensure that a high-quality primary care system exists, which picks up and deals with problems before they reach a hospital,” he said.

More flexible GP hours, an increase in doctor training places and the creation of 1,500 new community care beds by 2010 would also form key elements of Labour’s plans to pump more resources into primary care.

The Labour leader hit out at the low level of eligibility for medical cards.

“Families are having to think twice before taking a child to the doctor. That is unacceptable. As the percentage of people with medical cards has shrunk, the cost of going to the doctor has soared, and state subvention of the cost of medicines has fallen,” he said.

Ms McManus insisted the number of long-stay community beds for the elderly has fallen across the country, putting more pressure on A and E services.

Extending the medical card scheme to bring 40% of people under its safety net in the lifetime of the next Dáil would be vital to improve national health standards, she said.

“The Government’s record has been lamentable. The Tánaiste promised 200,000 people would get GP-only cards. Two years later and only 4% of these have been delivered.

“Despite significant increases in health spending, only 28% of the population have full medical card cover, compared with 34% in 1997,” she added.

In a pointed reference to Health Service Executive boss Prof Brendan Drumm’s belief that extra beds are not needed in the health service, Mr Rabbitte insisted that under a Rainbow government, the minister for health would direct health policy and not Prof Drumm.

A Health Department spokesman said the Government had already set in train a major primary care initiative with a budget of €28 million this year.

Around 300 extra personnel will form 75-100 primary care teams, despite the IMO urging GPs not to co-operate with them.

“The Government has extended medical cards to 28,500 people, and GP-only cards are being specifically targeted at those who need them most,” he added.