Madam, - I wish to offer my unqualified support to Dr James Reilly and Dr Martin Daly of the Irish Medical Organisation, who felt obliged to interrupt Minister Micheál Martin's media briefing at the launch of a Progress Report on the Primary Health Care Strategy on July 14th. It is patently obvious to anybody in this country with even a basic knowledge of the healthcare system that there has been chronic underfunding of primary care for many years.
In my capacity as a member of the North Eastern Health Board from 1987 until its recent dissolution, I feel I can speak authoritatively on this subject. It is most disingenuous of the promoters of the Primary Health Care Strategy to claim the Pilot Project in Virginia, Co Cavan , as an example of the progress of the strategy. I attended health board meetings for many years at which the Virginia Project was planned and progressed and most of the funding was already in place before the launch of the Primary Health Care Strategy.
Dundalk is one of the largest towns in the country. Several years ago, astute officials of the North Eastern Health Board purchased an old railway locomotive shed for the purposes of providing a state-of-the-art primary health centre.
This building is located on arguably the best site in the town on which modern County Council offices, a leisure centre, swimming pool and Government offices have subsequently been constructed. Several local GPs were immediately committed to relocating to the premises and contributing financially towards its renovation; but Government inaction has resulted in no funding being provided by the State for this project to date. The building is now a decaying eyesore on a site which is otherwise rejuvenated and bustling with activity. I was recently informed by senior management in the NEHB that no funding would be forthcoming for upgrading of this building for the foreseeable future.
In relation to medical cards,there are now in excess of 100,000 fewer cards than in 1997; despite the GMS Scheme being top-loaded with more than 120,000 extra medical cards for the over-70s and asylum-seekers/non-EU nationals over the past seven years.
The income guidelines for medical cards are obscenely low and it is only in very rare cases in the NEHB area that discretionary medical cards are issued by the CEO. I have no doubt that the Government parties paid a heavy price in the recent elections for this ongoing scandal and for their further failure to honour their pre-election promise of 2002 to extend the medical card scheme to cover 200,000 extra and needy members of the population.
The Irish Medical Organisation has the overwhelming support of its GP members for its leaders, Dr Reilly and Dr Daly, and the GP Sub-Committee in its efforts to secure equity for the people on the margins of society who are unfortunate enough not to have medical cards and also in their endeavours to secure adequate funding for primary care in our country, appropriate to the 21st century. - Yours, etc.,
Dr PAUL McCARTHY,
Francis Street,
Dundalk.