A modified version of the weekly GMS weekly activity reports is to be reinstated by the Primary Care Reinbursement Service (PCRS), the IMO has said.
According to Mr Eric Young, Assistant Director of Industrial Relations at the IMO, a new and modified weekly report system will be available to GPs in the very near future.
Dr Mary Gray, IMO GP Chair, told IMN that weekly information would now be posted in relation to patients who had lost their medical cards and patients whose card were due for renewal.
Deletions and additions will not be provided on a weekly basis, as was previously the case, but on a monthly basis, Dr Gray understands.
“The weekly listing would enable more efficient use of the new proposals to renew and restore certain cases of cards which would be in the patient’s interest,” Dr Gray argued.
In January, GPs across the country raised concern following a sudden and unprecedented number of medical card cancellations.
A GP practice based in the north east lost 570 medical card patients in December while another practice in the south lost 600 patients.
The PCRS denied that significant deletions had occurred and challenged GPs’ definition and understanding of what constituted a deletion.
Following the removal of access to weekly GMS reports more than a month ago, individual GPs have consistently called for the reports to be reinstated due to concerns about patient safety.
The IMO has also written to the PCRS calling on the reports to be reinstated.
