Cost of building new practices beyond many GPs, conference told
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GPs need support to open new practices as the financial cost of building their workplace is beyond many now, the Irish College of GPs said.
These costs are a real barrier for young doctors at a time when GP numbers are just over 4,000, falling short of the 6,000 needed, warned Dr Diarmuid Quinlan, medical director.
He was speaking during the Irish College of GPs national conference in Dublin.
In Ireland, GPs are self-employed but almost all work indirectly for the HSE by treating lists of medical card patients as well as children and others entitled to free care.
“I think we need innovative solutions to provide the infrastructure if we want to move care into the community,” he said.
“We need the workforce to do it and we need the workplace. We need innovative solutions to provide the brick and mortar for primary care.”
He added that school teachers are not expected to buy and build a school before beginning teaching.
He said
The number of GP nurses should also be doubled from just over 2,000.
Dr Quinlan, a GP in Cork said shortages are “particularly acute in rural areas” but insisted that most GPs keep same-day slots for urgent care.
The Irish Examiner’s Rural Ireland Thinks poll found while 92% of people have a GP, some 54% had waited two days or more for an appointment in the last year.
In another example of the pressures, the Citizens Information Service said “over 80%” of the 16,000 health queries they got between April and June related to access to GP or dental services. This included, they said, for “Medical Card, GP Visit Card, GP Services or Dental, Aural and Optical Health”.
The conference was part of the World Organisation of Family Doctors five-day conference. Dr Tomas Zapata, WHO Regional Office for Europe, addressed the Irish doctors and said 30% of GPs in Europe are over 55.
“This is really creating this tension and that is why we call it a ticking time bomb,” he added. He highlighted pressures caused by a growing population, an ageing population and shortages of medical trainees.
“In Ireland 50% of the medical students are foreigners, and 85% of them will leave Ireland when they graduate so I think these are things you need to take into consideration,” he said.
The college also discussed the role of doctors in conflict zones including Gaza and Ukraine.