GENERAL PRACTITIONERS WILL now facilitate people who are not normally registered with a practice if they develop Covid-19 symptoms, the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) and the Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP) have said. 

There are now a total of 292 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the Republic of Ireland.

In an address to the nation last night, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said this emergency is likely to go on well beyond 29 March, adding that “it could go on for months into the summer”. 

As the crisis is expected to worsen in the weeks ahead, the IMO and ICGP have said they recognise that there are members of the public who are not registered with a GP and who may be concerned as to what to do if they develop symptoms. 

“General Practice is the first point of contact for patients with symptoms and in these extraordinarily challenging times GPs will facilitate those people who are not normally registered with the practice,” the organisations said. 

The IMO and ICGP added that GPs have been dealing with large volumes of patient calls over the past week and they are continuing to ask people to be patient. 

In most cases, people will be asked for their details and will then receive a callback, the organisations said. They are asking that people do not make multiple calls to the practice.  

They also noted that while there is no charge for Covid-19 triage, people will need to provide details to GPs, including name, address, date of birth, symptoms, underlying health conditions and PPSN. People are being asked to have these details ready before calling a GP.

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“Anyone with symptoms should immediately self-isolate and not wait to contact a GP. Please stay at home, and stay separate from other household members,” the IMO and ICGP said. 

“GPs, like all frontline healthcare workers, are dedicated and committed to the national efforts in relation to Covid-19. We are grateful for the public’s co-operation at this time, and we asked that they continue to be supportive and patient in the weeks ahead,” they said.