Medical cards - Blame game is a waste of energy

THE Labour Relations Commission (LRC) has issued recommendations to the Health Services Executive and the Irish Medical Organisation on the proposed 200,000 medical cards to be issued to cover visits to the doctor only.

These cards will be for people who just missed out on eligibility for full medical cards. This should help low-income families who might otherwise have felt unable to afford a necessary visit to the doctor for treatment.

It is estimated the proposals will cost around €93 million, of which around €35m will cover benchmarking for doctors to co-operate with the introduction of the cards. It is also proposed that the doctors should receive €35 for each doctor-only card they sign on.

It is estimated that this will cost €7m, while the outstanding amount due to doctors is estimated to be €48.5m.

The new doctors-only medical cards were promised in the budget last November and it is planned to have the scheme operating next month. It will mean a total of 1.3 million people will have free access to their doctor.

There have been too many problems in the health service, between superbugs, tainted blood, the illegal charging of patients in nursing homes, and the upset caused over the removal of public patients from Leas Cross nursing home.

Legislation to allow for the closure of unsuitable nursing homes was promised last year after the controversy surrounding conditions in the Rostrevor nursing home in Dublin, but this legislation is still not in place, even though the Government has been in a possession of a damning report on conditions at the Leas Cross nursing home since last autumn.

Tánaiste Mary Harney has welcomed the latest LRC proposals, and the General Practitioners Committee of the Irish Medical Organisation is meeting today to consider the proposals and decide whether to submit them to a ballot of doctors concerned. It is to be hoped that the doctors will accept the proposals from the LRC, an independent body.

It is essential the health service should act positively, because there has been far too much recrimination and not enough progress. Former Ombudsman Kevin Murphy was highly critical earlier in the week of Ms Harney’s efforts to lay all the blame for “systematic maladministration” on the civil servants. The doctors and nurses are blaming both the politicians and civil servants. Energy that should be expended on reform is being wasted on recrimination.

Ultimately, all must share the blame. The excuse that sufficient money was not being made available seems ludicrous when the Department of Health failed to spend €70m of the money that it was allocated in 2004. Ms Harney has indicated that the money for the doctor-only medical cards is already allocated.

All sectors of the health services need to demonstrate that they can work together to tackle the growing problems in a determined way.

The difficulties in the health service are all too apparent, and it is important for morale that progress be made in order to build confidence to tackle the other much more daunting problems.