HSE steps in over out of hours quarrel

THE Health Service Executive (HSE) has moved to break the deadlock in a row with Mid-West GPs over funding for their out of hours co-op service.

The doctors, who are members of Shannondoc, are seeking an additional €1.1m a year to fund ‘red-eye’ shift costs.

Much of the ‘red-eye’ night-time and weekend cover is provided by doctors who fly in from South Africa and work a month at a time.

At present the Health Service Executive funds Shannondoc to the tune of €3.7m a year.

This money helps finance out of hour clinics, nurses, specially equipped doctors’ cars and full-time drivers who take doctors on calls.

A HSE spokesperson said it is unable to address ‘red-eye’ issues at local level as this would have implications for existing and future GP contracts which are negotiated at national level.

However, the HSE said it has offered to increase base funding to Shannondoc “in acknowledgement of service enhancements that have been introduced and emerging pressures that are being experienced”.

The Health Service Executive said that it has also undertaken to review the base funding for Shannondoc again next year under the service level agreement.

The HSE said it has agreed to in-case base funding to Shannondoc for 2007 from €3.7m to €3.9m.

It has also offered to provide additional funding for 2007 in the form of a service enhancement grant of €300,000.

More than 124 GPs in County Limerick, Clare and North Tipperary formed Shannondoc in 2002.

Each doctor contributes about €10,000 to pay for the locums who work red-eye shifts.

Up to 70 GPs in Limerick City have resisted calls from the Department of Health to join Shannondoc, saying that existing arrangements work well.

The city doctors operate six separate two-doctor rosters to deal with out of hours red-eye work.

Former junior health minister, Tim O’Malley, clashed with the city doctors over their refusal to join Shannondoc.

He stated last November that inadequate out of hours GP cover in the city was resulting in patients going to the A&E at the Mid-Western Regional Hospital when they were unable to get a GP at night or weekends.