THE CHIEF executive of the Health Service Executive (HSE), Prof Brendan Drumm, proposed earlier this year that the Government should introduce powers to allow the organisation to terminate contracts of healthcare professionals such as GPs, dentists and pharmacists.
Prof Drumm suggested to the Secretary General of the Department of Health Michael Scanlan that legislation dealing with the financial emergency situation facing the Government, which was being drawn up at the time, presented an opportunity for them to include a measure “which would give the Minister/HSE the power to terminate such contracts in defined circumstances”.
This financial emergency legislation, which allowed for the introduction of the controversial pension levy in the public service, also provided powers for the Minister for Health to reduce fee levels paid to contractors such as GPs.
“You will be aware that while the various contractual arrangements include a provision whereby the contractor can give notice to the HSE of his/her intention to terminate the contract, there are no equivalent provisions which enable the Minister/HSE to terminate individual contracts on giving notice, save in circumstances where disciplinary provisions are being invoked.
“I note that there is nothing in this Bill which gives the Minister/HSE the power to terminate individual contracts, and whilst I appreciate that such a provision is not the primary purpose of the Act, nonetheless there may be merit in considering the inclusion of such a provision in the Bill,” Prof Drumm stated.
The Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill, which was published at the end of February , includes a provision that the Minister for Health could, by regulation, fix the payment or rate of payment to be made to health professionals for services which they render to a health body.
The Bill specified that the Minister for Health must engage in consultations on this issue and it allowed for any health professional who does not wish to continue to provide services to give notice of withdrawal.
A spokesman for the Department of Health said that a measure to allow the Minister or the HSE to terminate contracts in certain circumstances was not in fact contained in the legislation.
The Irish Timesrevealed last month that Prof Drumm had also proposed to the Department of Health that new regulation could be considered to govern the relationship between the pharmaceutical industry and doctors.
