IMO: HSE could easily restore lost medical cards

Medical cards could easily be restored to the thousands who had already lost them before the review process was halted last week, according to the chairman of the GP Committee of the Irish Medical Organisation.

Dr Ray Walley contradicted suggestions by the HSE that it would not be logistically possible to immediately restore thousands of discretionary cards which were taken away from children with Down Syndrome and people with serious illnesses or disabilities through a review process that has been taking place over the past two years.

He said family doctors, through a computer system, could reinstate eligibility on an emergency basis in what would be a “very quick” process and policy makers could then sit down to figure out who should get cards based on their medical conditions.