GPs unsure about swine flu vaccine indemnity

THE issue of whether family doctors are indemnified against any negative fall-out from the swine flu vaccine remains unclear, with just one day left for GPs to sign up to the Health Service Executive’s (HSE) pandemic vaccination programme.

Following talks yesterday with the HSE, the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) said the indemnity issue remained unresolved and GPs were also unsure of the implications of a request from the HSE to identify patients aged six months to 65 years with specific at risk conditions.

“There are issues particularly around asking GPs to commit to identifying every at-risk patient,” said IMO GP committee spokesperson Dr Ronan Boland. “Some doctors rely entirely on manual records, some patients attend very infrequently. It’s a huge undertaking. There are indemnity issues here that we need clarified.”