Rural GP issue highlighted by council

The council is to write to the Minister for Health, HSE, and the General Medical Council to highlight the “serious problem” with GPs in rural areas retiring from practice, and the lack of replacements available. It has, Independent Brendan Fay said, resulted in families sometimes having to wait up to two weeks for an appointment due to current demand for services.

Cllr Fay said he was aware of one case where a woman was waiting two weeks for her child to be seen, before she “gave up” and went to A&E instead where they spent two more days in Cavan and Dublin before being treated.

The Belturbet-based elected repetitive asked where all the GPs have gone? He is calling for better supports to be put in place, saying how pressures regarding workload, not to mention the cost of insurance for surgeries, were driving GPs away from taking up roles.

Ukrainian refugees arriving in towns often had to travel outside of the county to be seen, and many GP surgeries are no longer taking new patients.

There was support for the motion from Aontú’s Sarah O’Reilly who said a situation had developed in neighbouring Monaghan where a local GP had “closed their books” to new patients.

Fine Gael’s TP O’Reilly said more needs to be done to attract qualified GPs to set up surgeries in rural areas “by whatever means necessary”.

There was support too from Fianna Fáil’s Patricia Walsh, while Independent Shane P O’Reilly pointed out that one concern that continues to exist is that “lucrative” GMS patients, medical card holders and GP visit card holders, stay with the original doctor unless the list is taken over.

The system precluded young doctors from taking up positions in towns and villages, meaning that at present Ireland is only training GPs for “export”.

It was a “fundamental problem” and unless something is done to address it, the current situation will continue to linger.

Sinn Féin’s Paddy McDonald agreed, while there was support for the initial motion also from Fianna Fáil’s Aiden Fitzpatrick and Cathaoirleach John Paul Feeley.

Cllr Feeley said that the option of being a locum was “too profitable” in some areas, resulting in it being difficult then for a GP to take up the post full-time.

He stated as well that “a lot of GPs were taken off the field” during Covid, and it was “not acceptable” that they cannot be contacted now other than by phone. People, he said, are “entitled” to see their doctor.