The way in which the removal of medical cards from people over 70 years has been handled by the Health Service Executive has been nothing short of shambolic, the Irish Medical Organisation claimed today.
Dr Martin Daly, the organisation's president, said some over 70s had been deleted from the medical card lists during a review carried out by the HSE even though they were still eligible to retain their medical cards.
And when they telephoned the HSE's central office in Dublin which is now handling all medical card applications, he said they were told their cards would remain valid until June, even though the public had been told the automatic entitlement to medical cards among over 70s ended in March.
Dr Daly said when he himself telephoned the central office he spoke to a man who said the Government had told the HSE to offer a three month reprieve to people at risk of losing their medical cards. He said the whole area was mired in confusion.
"It's poor administration, it's poor communication and it creates a climate of fear and uncertainty amongst a vulnerable group of citizens," he said.
"It's quite simply shambolic the manner in which in this is being handled. They should have learned the lessons from October 2008 which brought people out onto the streets because of a poor communications campaign. And they have compounded this problem and perpetuated it by the manner in which they are attempting to review medical card entitlement for over 70s," he added.
The HSE said it was absolutely incorrect to suggest there has been any extension to the March 2009 deadline in relation to over 70s medical cards.
On that date medical cards held by any over 70s above certain income limits - €700 a week in the case of a single person and €1,400 a week in the case of a couple - became invalid and their holders were asked to return their medical cards to the HSE.
It was expected around 20,000 cards would be handed back. Figures issued in recent days by the HSE indicated some 10,182 people over 70 have returned their medical cards.
It also said a further 9,264 cards have been cancelled as a result of a HSE review of medical card lists to ensure that there are no incorrect or duplicate registrations on the medical card register.