MINISTER FOR HEALTH James Reilly has pledged to investigate any claims of GPs charging medical card holders for certain services to which they should be given free access.

TheJournal.ie has learned that the health minister, in response to a parliamentary question being published in the coming days, will pledge to have the Health Service Executive probe any claims of cases where doctors signed up to the General Medical Services scheme insist on charging some patients for certain services.

The promise comes on the back of an increasing number of complaints that GPs were forcing medical card holders to pay fees – ranging from €15 to €30 in some cases – for blood tests and other procedures for which they should not have to pay.

“A general practitioner is expected to provide his/her patients who hold medical cards or GP visit cards with all proper and necessary treatment of a kind generally undertaken by a GP,” Reilly’s answer – which has already been returned to the TD concerned – reads.

It continues:

Where blood tests form part of the investigation and necessary treatment of patients symptoms or conditions, these should be provided free of charge to medical card and GP visit card holders.

If the HSE is made aware of specific cases where [general medical services] patients are being charged by GP contractors, it will arrange to have such cases investigated as appropriate.

The response also includes a note from the HSE which notes that in some GP surgeries, work like blood tests is carried out by a practice nurse, whose employment costs are “heavily subsidised” by the HSE.