National GP Meeting

Saturday 26th April 9am – 11.45am

E Health and IT Developments

1. This meeting calls on the Department of Health and the HSE to continue to engage with the IMO on any, and all, new eHealth and IT developments and ensure that such developments do not add to GP administrative workload or reduce patient facing time.

Proposer: IMO GP Committee

Status: Carried

Women’s Health Programme

2. This meeting calls on the Department of Health and HSE to enter into negotiations with the IMO, on the commitment contained within the Programme for Government specifically “a comprehensive women’s health programme in general practice including advice on contraception, sexually transmitted infections, screening, fertility and pre-conception and support for women experiencing menopause”

Proposer: IMO GP Committee

Status: Carried

Management of Obesity Programme

3. This meeting calls on the Department of Health and HSE to enter into negotiations with the IMO on a fully resourced programme for managing Obesity in General Practice.

Proposer: IMO GP Committee

Status: Carried

Shared Care Protocols

4. This meeting calls on the HSE to develop a national system of Shared Care Protocols for specified medications e.g. Lithium, Methotrexate. Given the volume & complexity of care at all clinical interfaces, including polypharmacy & multimorbidity, this would be an essential tool to also enhance & maximise clinical safety for all our patients.

Proposer: Dr Catherine O’Donohue

Seconder: Dr Brian O’Doherty

Status: Carried

Laboratory Results

5. This meeting calls on the HSE to ensure that all laboratory results include a means for patients to discuss with, and have the results explained by, the clinical team who arranged the tests. The clinician who orders the result must have responsibility for same. The HSE must ensure that the burden of explaining results is not transferred either directly or indirectly to GPs. Any expectation either by the patient, hospital, HSE or ordering clinician that GPs will be available to explain these results will lead to increased clinical load and clinical risk for the GP and must be addressed in advance of any changes.

Proposer: Dr Daragh O’Neill

Seconder: Dr Illona Duffy

Status: Carried

Transcribing Prescriptions

6. With the advent of e-prescription availability to both GPs, hospital and community doctors, we ask that the need for GPs to transcribe prescriptions created by other doctors cease. This will reduce the risks involved, for both the GP and patient, in the transcribing process. It will also allow more timely dispensing of medication for the patient. It will also ensure that the responsibility and liability for the prescription remains with the actual prescribing clinician.

Proposer: Dr Daragh O’Neill

Seconder: Dr Illona Duffy

Carried as Amended

Amendment

With the advent of e-prescription availability to both GPs, hospital and community doctors, we ask that the need for GPs to rewrite prescriptions created by other doctors cease. This will reduce the risks involved, for both the GP and patient, in the rewriting process. It will also allow more timely dispensing of medication for the patient. It will also ensure that the responsibility and liability for the prescription remains with the actual prescribing clinician.

 

Mother and Infant Scheme

7. This meeting calls on the HSE and the Department of Health to recognise the significant contribution of general practice to the shared model of antenatal care and to modernise the Mother and Infant Scheme to reflect the time commitment, clinical expertise, and multidisciplinary focus required to deliver a high-quality service for expectant mothers. The scheme should be updated to align with contemporary standards of maternity care and to ensure it remains sustainable and appropriately valued within general practice.

Proposer: Dr Trish Horgan and Carlow Branch

Status: Carried

Healthlink

8. The IMO calls on the HSE to fully fund the provision of Electronic patient Discharge communications via healthlink from all level two and above hospitals and ensure that all new referral forms from General Practice are incorporated into the Healthlink Referral Process.

Proposer: Carlow Branch & Limerick Branch

Carried as amended

Amendment

The IMO calls on the HSE to fully fund the provision of Electronic patient Discharge communications via healthlink from all model two and above hospitals and ensure that all new referral forms from General Practice are incorporated into the Healthlink Referral Process.

 

 

9. This meeting calls on the HSE to engage with the IMO to review the GP Trainers Contract and ensure that such contract is properly resourced in keeping with the responsibilities attached to the position.

Proposers: Dr Madeleine Ni Dhalaigh, Carlow GP Branch

Status: Carried

Nursing Homes

10. The IMO calls on nursing homes to have adequate medical services for all patients who are transferred from acute hospitals

Proposer: Limerick Branch

Carried as amended

Amendment

The IMO calls for nursing homes to have contracted medical services for all patients who are transferred from acute hospitals

 

GPs as Trainers

11. This meeting recognises the critical role of GP Intern training in shaping the future of General Practice and ensuring a well trained workforce and calls on the HSE to engage with the IMO to ensure sustainable funding for GP Intern training, ensuring training practices are adequately resourced and not financially burdened.

Proposer: Mike Thompson

Seconder: Trish Horgan

Status: Carried

12. This meeting calls on the HSE to support those GPs who employ on and train doctors under the International Medical Graduate Programme. It is untenable that individual GPs are expected to cover the cost associated with the employment of doctors on this scheme.

Proposer: IMO GP Committee

Rural Practice

13. This meeting calls on the HSE to engage with the IMO in respect of the Rural Practice Support Framework which was due for review in 2024.

Proposer: IMO GP Committee

Status: Carried

Unresourced Workload

14. This meeting calls on the HSE to engage with the IMO on the continued increase of unresourced workload in General Practice whether this be through the secondary care system, which is itself under pressure, unnegotiated clinical care programmes or otherwise. It is unacceptable that significant additional workload, which is not covered by contract, is being imposed on GPs without negotiation with the IMO and without the necessary resources to meet such additional demands.

Proposer: IMO GP Committee

Status: Carried