General Practice at a critical juncture and could be irreparably damaged if not properly resourced, warns the ICGP

ICGP could increase training places to 250 per year but retention measures urgently required to replace 700 GPs due to retire in next four years.

The professional body for general practice, the Irish College of General Practitioners, has warned that general practice could be "irreparably damaged" if not properly funded.

A new GP contract and the reversal of the cutbacks must be an overarching priority, the College said in its submission to the Government.

"We are now at a critical juncture in general practice," said Dr Tony Cox, Medical Director of the Irish College of General Practitioners. "The benefits of appropriate and properly-resourced funding for general practice are clearly laid out in this submission. To not properly resource general practice and primary care will create irreparable damage to the provision of overall healthcare to the people of Ireland."

The key recommendations in the pre-Budget submission include:

• Increase capacity in general practice and primary care
• Reverse of cutbacks to GMS income
• Properly-resourced community-based chronic illness management
• Resourcing more training places, alongside retention measures.
• New GP contract.

The 30-page submission can be downloaded from the ICGP website here

MEDIA QUERIES: Aileen O'Meara, Communications Consultant, ICGP.

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Email: media@icgp.ie

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Website: www.icgp.ie