The Association of General Practitioners has called on the Government to appoint an independent mediator to adjudicate talks on the nurses' strike which is due to begin tomorrow.
Doctors attending the annual meeting of the AGP in Dundalk on Saturday passed an emergency motion supporting the nurses in their action.
The AGP, set up 12 years ago by a Dundalk GP, Dr Mary Grehan, has about 500 members. It has recently been granted a trade union licence after forging an alliance with another GP body, the National Association of Independent General Practitioners. It is seeking a licence to represent its members in negotiations with the Department of Health.
A Thurles GP, Dr Michael Daly, said: "It is plain that the people wish the nurses to have a better deal. They are a special case. Democracy seems a low priority of the present Government."
Dr Daly, outgoing chairman of the AGP, called on the Department to issue a booklet to all new parents outlining the risks and benefits of vaccination so parents could make an informed choice.
Dr Daly criticised the indicative drug budgeting scheme which will allow GPs to keep between 50 and 100 per cent of all savings they make by prescribing cheaper drugs to medical card patients, if the doctors meet targets set by the Department of Health.
"It must be wrong for doctors to gain directly for prescribing cheaper drugs to medical card patients. Yet they have gained in some cases tens of thousands of pounds. And incredibly this seems a matter of indifference to taxpayers and patients alike. Implicit in this scheme is the temptation to avoid using drugs that will promote health and in the long term delay or avoid diseases," he said.
The conference also discussed vaccinating children against flu on the grounds that they could transmit it to the elderly who are most at risk. However, Dr Terry Maguire said the effect of vaccines on the immune system was a matter of controversy, and could be dangerous.
The incoming president of the AGP, Dr Patrick Crawley from Kilkenny, called on the Minister for Health to place additional units around the State for adult brain injury rehabilitation.
"We are not providing adequate care for young people in need of specialist services. Some patients have to wait up to a year to be admitted to the National Rehabilitation Centre in Dun Laoghaire. It costs a minimum of £1,800 a week for our patients to be treated in specialist centres in England," he said.