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Family physicians have expressed anger at HSE’s decision to halt delivery of flu vaccines, until details of 600,000 that have already been distributed are known.
A GP said they felt they were being “held for ransom” amid the fight to bring the vaccine to vulnerable groups.
The HSE says it has distributed 1.3 million vaccines to date. GPs and pharmacies have submitted records of who received 700,000 of those vaccines, but records of the remaining 600,000 doses have not been submitted.
Yesterday, HSE clinical director Dr. Colm Henry told the Oireachtas health committee that HSE wants to “find out what happened to vaccines that have already been distributed but have not yet been registered as administered.”
In a letter sent to physicians and pharmacists on Monday, the HSE said that “all doses administered by GPs and pharmacies this year must be claimed through PCRS and acceptance into eligible groups is currently unclear from the information. available”.
The Primary Care Reimbursement Service (PCRS) is part of the HSE and is responsible for making payments to healthcare professionals, such as general practitioners, dentists, and pharmacists, for free or reduced-cost services they provide to the public.
According to the letter, “although 1.3 million doses of the vaccine have been distributed, claims of only 700,000 have been registered to date.”
The HSE said it was pausing deliveries of the vaccine “until more information can be obtained on the doses administered.” The remaining 50,000 doses of the vaccine will be released when “more information is available.”
Dr Julie Cussen, a GP based in Carrigaline, Co Cork, said the HSE letter has been seen as a way to “ransom GPs.” “We didn’t have enough vaccines to cover all of our high risk patients even before the letter was sent,” he said.
“We had to pick and choose who was the highest risk. Now, with the letter that obliges doctors to ask for ransom for the remaining vaccines, we will have to cut the numbers again in relation to the few stocks that we have left. “
Dr. Noel Howard, a Galway-based GP, says he currently has approximately 1,230 patients at risk for whom he cannot get vaccinated. “We are told that we are at the end of the line in terms of the vaccines that we are getting,” he said.
“We have 712 patients over the age of 65 who are not currently vaccinated even though we have vaccinated 700 to 800 to date. We have 793 between the ages of 12 and 65 who are coded as belonging to a risk group. Of that number, 268 have been vaccinated and 525 are not.
“We have around 1,230 patients that we would consider at risk, either because of their age or because of their risk categories, who have no possibility of being vaccinated. We are in a bind and there really is nowhere to go. “
Dr Fiona Kelly, GP in Castletownbere, Co Cork. he said it was “impossible to get the vaccine” for the patients who need it most.
“My secretary has just informed me that the system will not allow her to order flu vaccines,” he said.
“We have more than 400 patients, all in the risk group, who are waiting for a vaccine. We’ve had deliveries, but nothing comes close to what we need. “
Dr. Kelly said she was surprised that refunds for potentially 600,000 doses have not yet been filed.
She said: “In our practice, once they are administered, they are processed as quickly as possible. Normally we would do them in a week, two weeks maximum. “
Longford pharmacist Pádraig Loughrey told Shannonside News that he “couldn’t understand why people would delay making a claim for payment.”
Speaking on RTÉ Radio One’s Morning Ireland, Dr. Henry moved to reassure the public that “no dose has gone”.
“We have distributed 1.3 million doses, which represents a 20 percent increase over last year and is the maximum amount we have distributed,” he said.
“We have records that more than 700,000 have been administered and it is normal for a delay time to elapse between the distribution of the vaccine and the records of who has been administered. No vaccine has disappeared.
“We have retained, as we normally do each year, 50,000 to be able to determine where the gaps are, where the priority groups are and then distribute the remaining 50,000 at the end of November.”
Later, Dr. Henry told the Oireachtas health committee that it was too early to say if there will not be enough flu vaccine this winter, and there are “mixed messages” from GPs and pharmacists, some reporting they have enough and others say they are working. short.
He said this was what prompted the decision not to distribute 50,000 final doses.
“We want to know what happened to the vaccines that have already been distributed but have not yet been registered as administered,” he said.
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