Medical Cards must be processed within 15 Days

HSE Must Ensure all Medical Card Applications are Processed within 15 Days before Entire System is Centralised-Oireachtas Health Committee

15th April 2010

The HSE must make sure that all applications for medical cards are dealt with in no more than 15 days in advance of the proposed centralisation of the application system, the Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children has said.

The Committee has also called on the HSE to introduce a “fast track service” for urgent cases. The Committee is asking for the immediate introduction of these measures following meetings it had with the HSE, the Irish Medical Organisation and Age Action Ireland which examined the severe backlog in processing medical cards.

Widespread problems have been reported in accessing medical cards for over 70s since the application system was centralised to Finglas and the Committee is anxious that these problems are ironed out in advance of the planned centralisation of medical card applications for all groups.

Committee chairman, Se n O’Fearghail TD said;
“We have heard worrying reports from Committee members of constituents waiting several months to obtain their medical cards. This has resulted in worry, distress and patients taking an unnecessary financial hit. Applicants have also been unable to get through by phone and speak to someone in the centre in Finglas.

There is a real concern among the Committee that the system will fall into further chaos if the application procedure for all medical cards is moved to the one site.

This is why in advance of further centralisation, the Committee is calling on the HSE to:

Process all applications within 15 days, including applications for discretionary cards
Introduce a fast track service for urgent cases
Continue to provide a local service in each county/local health office to advise on and assist with applications and make decisions on cards where appropriate
Ensure that in cases of review of a medical card for a person over 70, their existing card will remain valid even if the expiry date has passed, until a decision has been taken
Provide adequate staffing of the service and effective communication to the public.

The Committee has resolved to review the operation of the provision of medical cards within six months to verify that the required improvements have been achieved.”

During its meetings on this issue, representatives from the Irish Medical Organisation said that in its survey of 60 GP practices, 645 patients who held medical cards or were entitled to one were not on a list held by the Primary Care Reimbursement Service.

Age Action Ireland said they had dealt with individuals waiting three months to have their cards renewed.

These recommendations have been sent to the Minister for Health and Children, Mary Harney TD for her consideration.