Rural GPs have seen reductions in resourcing of nearly 50% in the past six years alone – leaving many clinics no longer viable and therefore on the brink of closing down for ever.
That was the stark message delivered by a delegation of rural doctors – including Carraroe GP Peter Sloane – when they met with the Fine Gael Health Committee last week. They warned that General Practices would go the way of the rural Garda Station and the small post offices – consigned to history by stealth.
“Unless changes to resourcing are urgently implemented, this will mean the end of the rural GP, whom communities have cherished and relied on for decades,” said committee spokesperson and Ballyvaughan GP Liam Glynn.
The delegation highlighted the pressing need for resources in rural general practice, the lack of which has plunged the service into a crisis not seen in Ireland since the mid-eighties.
The GPs – from Galway, Mayo, Roscommon, Clare, Donegal, Sligo, Tipperary and Wexford – said that they wanted to remind the Committee of the many communities had lost their local General Practitioner, with little chance of securing a replacement unless the resourcing issues in rural practice are urgently dealt with.
“Community general practice receives less than 2.5% of the overall health budget despite having over 90% of the patient contacts in the health service. This is compared to 8.9% in the UK where they are currently campaigning to see that increased to 11%,” said Dr Liam Glynn.
“General practice is the universal front-line service nationwide. Every day our highly qualified GPs provide high-quality, comprehensive, continuous care across the country – now Ireland is losing these doctors to emigration and retirement.
“The role of the GP in the community does not appear to be sufficiently valued by this Government, as successive cuts to primary care have set community services back decades,” he added.
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