Young doctors shut out of medical card system

ON July 9, the Competition Authority published a report into general practice and the medical card system. In doing so, it revealed an apparent culture of hierarchy and entitlement that has existed for decades in Irish medicine.

In effect, young, fully trained GPs have been prevented consistently from treating medical card patients who wished to attend them. In many cases, only those doctors who had gained the approval of their local senior established colleagues were allowed access to the public primary care system.

As the report reveals, this discriminatory approach was effectively endorsed and supported by the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO). The result was that young doctors were discouraged from setting up practices in areas where their services were needed and patients were often denied a choice of practitioner.