IrishMedicalNews

HSE denies long waits for medical cards in north Dublin

Written by Paul Mulholland Monday, 08 February 2010 15:02

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The HSE has denied that processing of medical cards in north Dublin is experiencing serious delays.

Last week, IMN reported on complaints that patients in Finglas and Ballymun, where the complete centralisation process headed by the HSE PCRS (Primary Care Reimbursement Service) is being piloted, faced long waits for medical cards, with one GP surgery reporting a waiting time of eight months to process an application.

However, a HSE spokesperson told IMN that the centralised office inherited a backlog of partially completed medical card applications which have been worked through and which are now moving back in line with the planned response time.

“These cases were at various stages of completeness with various levels of communication already commenced with the clients concerned,” the spokesperson said.

“These applications were required to be completed on a case by case basis in a much more manual and ad hoc fashion than is the case with standard applications. The centralisation of medical cards is a major change project, which will bring many quantifiable benefits to clients and to the taxpayer.”

However, GPs in the region are sticking by their claims.

Meanwhile, the HSE stated that the PCRS has issued 166 24-hour emergency medical cards in 2009 in response to medical emergencies.

In 62 cases, the client was terminally ill and in most of the cases emergency eligibility was requested by HSE local health managers, social workers or general managers.