DOCTORS ARE CALLING on the government to ensure that all sick children get a medical card.
The National Association of General Practitioners (NAGP) want the government to divert money that is currently ring-fenced for free under six care to discretionary medical cards.
The NAGP call this a ‘Robin Hood’ approach to the crisis.
The association is supporting Kevin Shortall whose daughter Louise is fighting leukaemia.
Shortall is campaigning to ensure all sick children get a medical card.
CEO of the NAGP Chris Goodey said,
“The plight of Dublin father Kevin Shortall, whose daughter Louise is fighting leukaemia, further highlights the fact that Ireland’s most vulnerable, sick children are denied access to funding for basic medical care.
This is happening while the Government is proposing universal GP access for all children under six, irrespective of financial means. It is farcical.
“This ring-fenced money could be put towards helping children like Louise Shortall, whose family have battled to ensure she gets a medical card since her leukaemia diagnosis in 2012.”
Goodey said that “even the HSE’s National Director of Primary Care has criticised the current situation”.
He describes the proposed free GP care for children under the age of six as “utterly flawed” adding that the contract will cost €37 million in 2014.
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