By Lloyd Mudiwa.
HSE statistics on existing and functioning primary care teams (PCTs) are inaccurate, found the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG), who has concluded that achieving 100 per cent GP involvement and enrolment in existing and new PCTs appears unlikely.
The HSE estimates that 100 GPs have declined to join a PCT, citing a lack of time, funding and IT communication, according to the Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General on the Accounts of the Public Services 2010, which was presented to Dáil Éireann this week.
A survey in the report found that the reported number of PCTs did not exist. Of the 394 planned to be in place by the end of 2010, an estimated 319 were in place.
Of the 350 teams reported as functioning, a number had already merged with others, which suggested considerable work was needed to achieve cohesive functioning and establish new relationships. The HSE said the reason for this variation was that while two teams may hold joint clinical team meetings they still operate as separate teams, the C&AG stated.
The C&AG found that for PCTs holding clinical team meetings at December 31, as low as 15 per cent reported that a community health needs assessment had been carried out prior to their first meeting.
Only 18 per cent believed that integration with local secondary care had since improved.
The C&AG said the Executive also continued to count PCTs as operating, even if the GPs had ceased to attend meetings. Consequently, the number of functioning PCTs was likely to be overstated, with a number of teams having no GP involvement.
The report also highlighted there was scope for considerable improvement in procurement by the largest puchaser in the State, which was acknowledged by the HSE’s Procurement Directorate.
lloyd.mudiwa@imt.ie