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GPS HAVE SAID that the workforce is not in place to ensure that the 500,000 additional people who are to get free GP care will be able to get appointments.
Medical Director of the Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP) Diarmuid Quinlan said today, at the professional body’s annual conference, that even if more people become medical card holders, they will struggle to get an appointment.
“We are in a serious GP workforce crisis. Even though we agree with the medical card means testing being relaxed, and children aged six and seven being covered, the reality is that the doctors are not in place to cover these extra consultations,” he said.
“We are going to remove the financial barrier for many people who need to see a GP, which is a good thing, but in many cases they will still struggle to get an appointment.
“We currently have a head count of around 4,200 GPs in Ireland, but we need 6000.
“I worked in the South Doc out of hours practice recently, and many of the patients I saw simply cannot get a GP. Practices are so stretched that they are not in a position to take on new patients,” he added.
The ICGP Medical Director said that even though COVID-19 is no longer a public health emergency, it is still putting an extra workload on GPs.
“We are still giving vaccines. We are still seeing people with acute Covid, we are still treating people with long Covid.
“We are also treating an increasingly older population, who need a lot of healthcare, so a combination of training more doctors, and recruiting more doctors is needed.
Quinlan said that doctors are already working too many hours, and struggling to take holidays.
“Overtired doctors make mistakes. Who wants an overworked doctor to see their sick child? There are a certain number of patients that a GP should see in a day that we should not be going above, and we are routinely exceeding it,” he added.
Taiwo Akhigbe, a GP in Celbridge, Co Kildare, said that he has been unable to take any substantial time off to spend with his family in the last two years.
“It is very difficult. We have doctors in my practice who are set to retire, and it will be hard to replace them. I see around 35 to 40 patients a day as it is, so I can not imagine taking on more,” he said.
Akhigbe said that due to hospital overcrowding, there is also an increasing number of emergency presentations at practices, and that he has treated people at the site of car crashes twice this year.
“I do not think it is possible for doctors to be able to see all of the additional medical card holders we will have by the end of this year. I think that the system needs to be improved so more medical students are attracted to General Practice, so we can build up our workforce in a way that allows us to give all of these people quality care,”he said.
The Nigerian native said that he manages the stress of seeing so many patients a day, as well as conducting home calls, because he is passionate about what he does.
“General practice is so important. There is an attitude in medical colleges, at times, that it is for less intelligent doctors – that it is about coughs and colds. That’s not the case. We work with people who have chronic conditions, we help people struggling with their mental health, we detect the early signs of serious health issues. It is very important,” he said.
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GPs have no problem taking new patience once they are private! That’s a fact. I seen it myself, unfortunately, Medical card holders are second-class citizens.
@Siobhan Rosemary: Medical card patients attend FAR more often than private patients i.e. once every few years vs several times a month. If you’re a busy practice that’s already streched you’re obviously going to accept the private patient. Worth remembering its the private patients that allow the practice to remain viable.
@Siobhan Rosemary: There are 4,200 GPs in Ireland. How many have you seen this apply to personally to say you are so quick to apply it as fact?
Personally I don’t have a medical card and after a move 5 months ago, I am still without a GP as can’t find one to take me on – so I guess, based on what amounts to “a fact” around here, I can state the opposite and confirm as fact they are not taking private patients on as I’ve seen myself.
@Siobhan Rosemary: You are quite correct – however this beast has been created by the Government. If i was a doctor, i wouldn’t take on a ‘HSE Client’ either, when i’m only getting paid a THIRD of the rate that i’d get from a private patient, never mind the 6 to 8 months i have to wait to get paid.
If the HSE paid the going rate,and paid their bills on time, MC holders wouldn’t have this situation. Doctor surgeries are businesses at the end of the day – there to make money; they’re not there to be abused by the HSE…. All the money wasted on these Primary Care buildings could have been spent making it financially viable for doctors to see people with MC’s.
I’ve been to the doctor’s twice in the last eight years, not because I’m super healthy but because it’s €65 a pop, money that can be spent elsewhere.
@Sean Higgins: My doctor is €80 and that is a problem. People are not going to go to the doctor they can’t afford it, and when they do eventually go it will be too late for some people being Diagnosed with Serious Health Problems
It’s not just GPs. Also dentists. There is one half-time dentist in our area who covers a radius of 40 kilometers. It is a growing problem that affects more than just medical card holders.
Headline Translation: GP’s not willing to take a pay cut serving patients on medical cards.
@Sean McCarthy: and why should they?
@Jonathan Regan: duty of care maybe, an obligation to their patients health over money perhaps. my parents who worked all their lives and both earned their medical cards can’t get a gp appointment. I on the other-hand pay per visit and have no issue with an appointment. If they have an issue with the medical card reimbursement then why don’t they come out and say it, well they won’t because people will see it for what it is. Greed!
@Sean McCarthy: duty of care? It’s a service. They are working for money, not thank you’s.
@Sean McCarthy: “An obligation to their patients ” Agreed they have an obligation to their patients – thus not taking even more patients on to ensure they can fulfill their obligation. I am sure you are first in line at your place of work offering to take a paycut to help out your employer as we head into uncertain times. Or not, maybe its just other people you expect to take paycuts. Of course, if GPs are saying they are already overworked, and you quite happily want to saddle them with more work on top of it, and a paycut to boot, do you think that might result in some practices failing/GPs leaving the system. Now you got yourself a negative feedback loop – but hey, that’s just the kind of forward thinking that has no place here in the land of moaning for the sake of moaning.
@Jonathan Regan: A lot of people expect from doctors and teachers selfless dedication that they wouldn’t expect from plumbers or accountants. It is a vocation, apparently, so doctors should work all hours, and for free.
@Sean McCarthy: The HSE has made it financially unviable for doctors to see patients with Medical Cards….
If people with MC’s have an issue, they should take it up with their local TD, not fling mud at the doctor. Its a business at the end of the day.
Whenever I ring my GP to get an appointment she tells me to try the walk in clinic across the road!! And the odd time I do get to see my GP she gives out if I’ve gone to the walk in clinic cause she doesn’t have any information of what they have prescribed me!
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