More GPs refusing to perform free blood tests

GROWING numbers of GPs are refusing to perform free blood tests and other minor procedures on hard-pressed medical card holders over claims the actions are not covered by HSE contracts.

The Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) has said doctors are not obliged to provide the services without payment under their interpretation of the state agreement.

The majority of GPs are still waiving any fee for the minor procedures on medical card holders, who are the patient group with the least money to spend.

However, www.irishhealth.com has reported that a growing number are now asking for a fee, with hard-pressed patients who cannot afford the charge told to travel to overcrowded hospitals to access a free service.

IMO vice-president Dr Ronan Boland said that after seeking legal advice the doctors’ union has told its GP members they are not contractually obliged to provide this type of pro bono work.

The Cork city-based doctor said demand for procedures such as blood tests, 24-hour blood pressure monitoring and filling out forms for driving test medicals, among other issues, have increased significantly over the past decade.

As a result, he claimed, GPs — who have recently been the subject of three Government pay cuts — have been told by their union they can charge for the services.

Dr Boland said the issue was ultimately still the decision of individual GPs.

However, the HSE has disputed the claim, with a spokesman stating that routine blood tests are part of the normal work of GPs under their medical card contracts — meaning that medical card patients cannot be charged in the state’s view.

Blood tests and other affected services are still available free from all public hospitals, with all patients able to avail of this free service.

Just under a third of all people in Ireland are now entitled to a medical card, including people receiving social welfare payments, pensioners and people with long-term, chronic conditions.

The GP fees row comes after it emerged that the HSE is spending hundreds of millions of euro a year on hospital laboratory services — which include checking the outcomes of blood tests and other procedures which could be provided by GPs.