Ireland needs at least 2,500 more GPs within next 7 years to guarantee existing levels of service, predicts GP training body

Over 660 GPs due to retire in next 7 years as surveys show significant numbers emigrating

The country's training body for general practitioners, the ICGP, has predicted widespread shortages of GPs across Ireland, and has warned the HSE that young families in every county in Ireland will be unable to sign up to a family practice. Existing elderly and vulnerable patients are already finding themselves without a GP as retirements occur.

The situation has been exacerbated by the HSE's serious underestimate of the extra demand created by free GP care for under 6's, combined with increased demand and growing retirement levels. At least 2,500 new GPs will be needed within the next 7 years to meet existing demand..

The Annual Conference of the Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP), the GP professional and training body, will hold a major debate on the impending manpower shortage this weekend entitled "Recruitment, Retention, Replacement" when the Conference will hear first hand accounts of the financial and manpower pressures facing GPs including:

• Hundreds of GP teams closing their practices to new patients, due to manpower and capacity pressures
• Patients having to wait weeks to see individual GPs in urban and rural areas
• Many medical card lists are no longer economically viable for new entrants and patients are dispersed without notice to larger urban centres
• Inability to invest in new equipment in existing practices
• Inability to find replacements for holiday cover, illness cover or retirement
• Continuing loss of newly qualified GPs to emigration in Canada and Australia primarily.

"General practitioners are the gatekeepers of the health services. Along with their practice nurses, providing some 30 million consultations every year in Ireland.", said Dr John O'Brien, incoming President of the ICGP.

"The system is in crisis, with growing numbers of existing lists closing to new patients and the HSE unable to find doctors to fill medical card lists where they are vacated. At the same time, we are training more doctors for export, and unable to attract them back because conditions are so much better abroad," said Dr John O Brien.

"Our College Forum entitled "Retention, Recruitment,Replacement" will hear from the frontline of general practice. The Taoiseach, himself a trained GP, know that this crisis is here, but we need to see the Government's funded roadmap to help find a solution," Dr O Brien added.

"At present, general practice in Ireland receives just 4% of the health budget; that should be at least 10% according to international standards, if we are to be able to address the needs of an expanding population and the extension of free care."

The Conference will hear that:

• The visit rate of under 6's increased to 28% since the expansion of free care in July 2015, even though the HSE predicted a 3.3% increase;
• Over 660 GPs are due to retire in the next 7 years;
• Over 2,500 new GPs are required to meet existing and future demand within the next 7 years;
• Ireland has 68 GPs per 100,000 population, compared to 110 in Canada, and 120 in Australia;
• Recent GP graduates surveys showed that almost one in five emigrate within a year of graduation, and just a quarter of those plan to return.

The two-day conference will also cover a range of clinical subjects and educational workshops for doctors, including care of the homeless, care for those with dementia, and advice to newly qualified GPs on setting up in practice. See www.icgpevents.ie for more.

MEDIA QUERIES Aileen O'Meara, Communications Consultant, ICGP

Email: media@icgp.ie 087 2239830

THE ANNUAL CONFERENCE of the Irish College of General Practitioners will be held on Friday 25th May and Saturday 26th May at the Convention Centre, Dublin.

Full details of the conference programme at www.icgp.ie/events

Twitter hashtag #ICGPAGM2018 @ICGPnews