GPs and home visits

A chara, – I hope that the ongoing deliberations of our Oireachtas Special Committee on the Covid-19 Response will also include an examination of how GPs deliver medical care to patients confined to their homes.

Under an almost 50-year-old contract, there has been no provision for remuneration of a GP who has decided that there is a need to visit his or her patient at home during the day, and the payment for an out-of-hours visit is inadequate.

Some areas of our country now have home medical services provided by the Community Intervention Team, funded by the HSE, while other areas do not.

I consider it a pleasure and a privilege to provide medical attention, where indicated, at home.

However, given that we may be faced by a second wave of Covid-19, it is incumbent on the Oireachtas committee to also include in their assessment how GPs provide necessary medical services in the home setting. – Is mise,

Dr CATHERINE

O’DONOHOE, GP

Adamstown,

Enniscorthy,

Co Wexford.