Sir, – In May of this year, the HSE wrote to all GPs advising that they were going to “modernise” the way it pays GPs for the mother-and-infant scheme.
It turns out that the HSE version of modernisation will involve the GP having to print out a form for the mother to sign at each visit (so at least nine separate forms) and submitting them all separately to the HSE (as opposed to sending in one claim form at the end, which is the current system).
I should mention that the average payment to a GP under this scheme is just €27.67 per consultation.
As many countries embrace e-health and paperless systems, it is very disappointing, to say the least, that the HSE version of “modernisation” involves increasing the administrative burden and the amount of paper generated by a factor of nine. – Yours, etc,
Dr PAUL
BYRNE,
Dundrum,
Dublin 16.