Prof Drumm’s comments criticised by IMO

Speaking today, Dr Tadhg Crowley of the IMO GP Committee, said: “The concept of primary care is well supported by international evidence and indeed the strategy has been in place since 2002; all that has been missing is the resources to enable GPs to lead the development of primary care.”

Yesterday, former HSE CEO Prof Brendan Drumm called for greater investment in primary care and GPs “to be allowed to take more responsibility for bringing solutions to the table”.

The comments were in advance of an NAGP-convened meeting in Dublin this evening, at which Prof Drumm is due to speak.

Dr Crowley said Prof Drumm was merely reiterating a concept that was approved for implementation when he was head of HSE.

According to Dr Crowley, Prof Drumm was head of the HSE when resources were relatively plentiful but “little was directed to support general practice”.

Dr Crowley said many GPs had been encouraged by the HSE – during Prof Drumm’s tenure – to invest in primary care centres and were liable for personal debt because the promised financial support did not materialise.

The Organisation also pointed out that Prof Drumm is referred to as a Senior Manager of Glencar Healthcare (www.glencar.net) which describes itself as “designed to meet the needs of external participants in the specialised healthcare sector, providing top tier advice and consultancy regarding investment in, and management of, healthcare assets” and as was recently reported, has gathered together a fund of €200 million to develop primary care centres.

As such, the IMO said Prof Drumm could not be described as an impartial observer of health policy.