Discussions took place today between the Irish Medical Organisation and health authorities on the fee payment for GPs who will deal with women seeking a repeat cervical smear for reassurance.
In a statement released this evening, the IMO said: "The resources allocated by the Minister for Health provide for repeat smears to take place at the existing rate of €49.10 and a consultation at a rate of €50."
In the statement, Dr Padraig McGarry said: "We were determined to ensure that the Government committed sufficient resources to enable GPs to spend time with those patients who have concerns about this whole issue and to undertake repeat smears where a patient requires one."
The Department of Health said the Minister is committed to providing a facility for women who have had smear tests and would like a repeat test to reassure them.
It said the State will meet the cost of the repeat test and arrangements on how this will operate are being finalised and are the subject of talks between officials in the Department, the Health Service Executive and GP representatives.
Meanwhile, the National Cancer Control Programme has asked for the assistance of nurses and midwives to volunteer in helping with call backs to women who have logged a call and requested a call back from the Cervical Screening helpline.
The programme says it will provide training and a telephone script will be provided to the nurses and midwives manning the phones.
It says this takes one hour duration and can be done over the phone.
Nurses and midwives can make these call-backs at their base services and will not be required to travel.
Overtime will apply for additional hours worked.
The service says there are a large number of call backs involved and the screening service is seeking to respond to these requests as soon as possible.
The National Association of General Practitioners is advising patients that they may experience some delay in getting an appointment to see their family doctor.
This is due to the hugely increased demand placed on general practice as a result of the ongoing CervicalCheck controversy.
GPs are also experiencing a significant increase in calls from concerned patients which has led to patients experiencing difficulties getting through to their GPs.
The NAGP is advising that patients should contact the CervicalCheck helpline in the first instance, should they have any queries related to the CervicalCheck programme.
Read more:
What is the Cervical Check controversy about?
