Medical card processing not being out-sourced
The health authority said part of its “data capture function” was being carried out by a German company based in Ireland following an EU tender.
The German company, Arvato, in Clontarf, Dublin, provides finance and accounting services to clients.
Socialist Party TD Clare Daly had raised the issue in the Dáil on Wednesday night with Minister of State for Primary Care Alex White during a debate on discretionary medical cards.
Ms Daly had suggested the outsourcing of some of the medical administration to the German company might have been responsible for “bizarre” judgments.
Yesterday, members of the Oireachtas Health Committee spent two-and-a-half hours with senior HSE staff at the health authority’s medical card centre in Finglas, Dublin. The head of the committee, Jerry Buttimer, said the meeting had been arranged because of concern that some people were falling through the cracks when it comes to discretionary medical cards.
Mr Buttimer said frank views had been expressed, with members recounting very difficult and emotive experiences of their constituents in relation to medical cards.
He said the HSE had assured them it would not ask people with lifelong conditions if these had changed.
“It is imperative that all people dealing with the medical card processing unit are treated with empathy and compassion; this approach must be enshrined in all correspondence and in all conversations between staff and those applying for medical cards,” he said.
Mr Buttimer said members of the committee wanted to see the application process become less bureaucratic and focused on the needs of applicants.
