AQW 13245/22-27
Miss Nuala McAllister
Alliance Party
North Belfast
Tabled Date: 11/06/2024
Answered On Date: 18/06/2024
Priority Written: Yes
Question:
To ask the Minister of Health to detail how GPs can provide support to those who have received a private diagnosis of Lyme Disease.
Answer:
As independent contractors, GPs are responsible for making a clinical decision on the appropriate care for their patients. If a patient presents to their GP with a private diagnosis of a medical condition, including Lyme Disease, the GP may decide to request any appropriate test to form their own diagnosis as in treating the patient they would be taking on all governance for the safe prescribing and monitoring of a specialist medication which may fall outside their usual scope of professional practice. Shared Care Agreements detail the respective clinical responsibilities of specialists and GPs for prescribing of particular medications which are initiated by specialists, but where it is considered that responsibility for prescribing may be transferred from secondary to primary care once arrangements have been established and agreed by both parties.
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