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A group of DECEASED DOCTORS at the center of a controversy over the leak involving Leo Varadkar claimed that he was under financial pressure because he had not seen the contract the then Taoiseach shared with his former president.
The National Association of General Practitioners (NAGP) went into liquidation last year, just weeks after Varadkar shared a draft contract between the government and the Irish Medical Organization (OMI) with NAGP president Dr. Maitiú Ó Tuathail.
In a statement on April 29, 2019, the NAGP stated that many of its members were waiting to see a copy of the contract before renewing their subscriptions with the association, creating financial problems for the group.
However, a statement from Varadkar on Saturday revealed that he provided a copy of the full agreement to Ó Tuathail sometime between April 11-16, 2019.
Since then, the Tánaiste has been criticized for sharing details of the contract with Ó Tuathail, the news of which was first reported by Village magazine over the weekend.
Ó Tuathail said last night that it was “wrong” that the NAGP had not seen the draft of the contract agreed by the government with the IMO.
However, it is understood that the then Health Minister Simon Harris was unaware that Varadkar had shared the document and the Tánaiste will face questions in the Dáil about the leak tomorrow.
The NAGP went into liquidation weeks after the contract was shared, for reasons other than the leak of that information.
During its short life, the group was a constant thorn in the side of successive Fine Gael governments, boasting more than 2,000 members at its peak.
And despite the fact that it was closed last year, its role in the current storm engulfing Varadkar belongs to an association whose existence ended the controversy.
In fact, they were also details of a contract that accelerated the existence of the NAGP in July 2013.
Then the controversy was over the retirement of IMO CEO George McNiece, whose generous € 20 million pension fund (which was later cut in half) angered many of its members who were feeling the effects of a deep recession.
Doctors were particularly aggrieved that their underwriting fees would fund McNiece’s retirement at a time when GPs were struggling with cuts introduced by the government under the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (FEMPI).
Although the IMO tried to quell the controversy by cutting McNiece’s pension rights in half and initiating a review of how such a contract could be arranged in the first place, many GPs remained unhappy with the representative group.
The disenchantment prompted a series of resignations from the association and the eventual formation of the NAGP, a new group that promises to be a stronger, alternative voice for GPs.
The group’s membership increased gradually over the next year and, in November 2014, it claimed to have 1,200 members, nearly half of the 2,500 GPs working in Ireland at the time.
During its growth period, the NAGP established a strong media presence through high-profile events and complaints, organizing the first street demonstration of Irish GPs and attacking former Fine Gael TD James Reilly as the worst minister of health in the history of the state. .
Policy statements
In addition to the media awareness and the promise of a fresh start after the McNiece controversy, the NAGP made a conscious effort to differentiate itself from the IMO.
Since its formation, the group has taken positions different from those of its rival association on various government proposals and periodically highlighted the problems that affect GPs in their daily work.
In addition to mundane problems like long waiting lists and even more work hours, there were also more striking claims from the association that doctors were being targeted by patients or that a portion of Irish doctors were unhappy with their career choice.
Meanwhile, the NAGP tried to further consolidate its membership after its formation with occasional attacks on the IMO, painting its rival group as an organization unaware of the problems affecting GPs.
In November 2014, NAGP CEO Chris Goody claimed that GPs had not been informed of a system that would allow doctors to renew medical cards for up to 12 months.
The system was mentioned in an agreement between the HSE and IMO in 2011, but it was not widely communicated to GPs until Varadkar announced it as Minister of Health in 2014. For its part, IMO was also unaware of the new system in that moment.
The following year, the NAGP strongly opposed proposals to introduce free health care for children under the age of six, plans that stemmed from an agreement between the Department of Health and IMO, claiming that it would significantly increase the workload of the doctors.
That stance eventually led to NAGP running into trouble with the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, which contacted the group with “serious concerns” that it could be anti-competitive for patients.
But the group’s most controversial position followed the result of the abortion referendum in 2018, when the group passed motions calling for a “voluntary participation” provision for doctors to provide abortion services and that subsequent referrals are not mandatory.
Those calls drew criticism from then-Health Minister Simon Harris, who said that the NAGP’s stance on the referrals in particular “[flew] in the face of care and compassion ”.
Around the same time, negotiations for a new contract between GPs and the state were becoming a priority for both the doctors and the government.
The previous contract was more than four decades old and the cuts that had been introduced through FEMPI legislation still affected physicians.
However, unlike the IMO, the NAGP did not subscribe to a framework for contract negotiations with the Department of Health or under the umbrella of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions.
The group joined forces with the Independent Workers Union to allow them to negotiate directly on salary issues with the Health Department in 2014.
But despite that license to negotiate, the NAGP would remain on the sidelines of contractual discussions during its term, something it would later cite as one of the reasons for its disappearance last year.
Resignations from the board
Although the association had achieved significant membership and become adept at upsetting politicians, it wasn’t long before the NAGP itself took off.
In March 2018, two months before the referendum on abortion, the association’s incoming president, Dr. Yvonne Williams, resigned along with five other council members.
In previous months, concerns had been raised about governance issues within the group, and members had grown increasingly frustrated that questions were unanswered.
Williams was replaced by Dr. Maitiú Ó Tuathail, whom Tánaiste Leo Varadkar later leaked the IMO agreement and who told him TheJournal.ie that the contract between GPs and the State was one of the biggest problems faced by doctors shortly after their appointment.
Despite the circumstances surrounding the resignations of Williams and others, the NAGP continued its work for the following year, reprimanding the government and expressing concerns on behalf of its members about normal working conditions.
During that time, the association produced a report on governance and the other members of the council sought to introduce a series of changes that it recommended.
And despite the misgivings of many of its members, the NAGP even managed to rally hundreds of GPs to hold a protest in front of the Dáil in February 2019 against the government’s treatment of vulnerable doctors and patients.
Before the event, Ó Tuathail stated that the government’s abandonment of the general practice “would lead to its extinction.” But in reality, the death sentence was sounding for the association itself.
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Voluntary liquidation
Two months after the Dáil demonstration, businessman Chay Bowes, whom Ó Tuathail had asked to review the NAGP’s books and records, provided a report to the association’s directors and board members on its financial governance.
On April 28, Ó Tuathail, along with the organization’s entire national council, resigned in response to the report. He said he had “serious concerns regarding the governance of the organization and, as a result, he cannot continue as president.”
A later statement from the NAGP confirmed the resignations.
Interestingly, in the context of the current controversy involving Leo Varadkar and the leaked IMO deal, the statement also blamed the ongoing uncertainty about the state’s new contract with GPs for the confusion he was in. .
“It has become clear over the past year that this administration will never allow the National Association of General Practitioners to come to the negotiating table,” he said.
“It has also become clear that the Irish Medical Organization and the Department of Health enjoy a unique relationship.
“Many GPs wait to see the details of the new offer before renewing their subscription. This has created financial difficulties for the NAGP ”.
The NAGP further claimed that its directors were attempting to put together a rescue package that would allow the organization to survive and implement the findings of the governance report.
However, the business side of the association went into voluntary liquidation in May 2019.
Many would have assumed that this would be the latest controversy for an organization that produced its fair share of dramatic headlines. The last saga could see some more written still.
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