MORE THAN 25 per cent of GPs in the Republic have closed their practices to new patients, according to a new survey. The doctors have apparently taken the step because they feel they just can't cope with any more patients.
The survey, conducted among over 1,300 family doctors by the Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP), indicates that while 27 per cent of GPs overall have closed their practice lists, the percentages of those with closed lists vary across the State.
In the HSE Dublin North East Region, for example, 35 per cent of GPs reported having closed lists at present, compared with 34 per cent in the HSE Dublin Mid-Leinster Region, 23 per cent in the HSE South area and 18 per cent in the HSE West region.
Some 88 per cent of the GPs surveyed said there were insufficient numbers of GPs in the State. And almost two-thirds of respondents reported having difficulty recruiting assistants.
Furthermore, half of the GPs surveyed said they anticipated retiring before 2020.
Dr Mark Walsh, chairman of the ICGP, said GPs were being put to the pin of their collar with more and more work coming under their remit and they were feeling that to maintain the quality of care they were giving to existing patients, they couldn't see any more new ones.
He said more GPs were needed and that while GP training places were due to increase to 150 this year they hadn't as funding wasn't provided by the HSE.
He pointed out that many young doctors were eager to go into general practice. Some 363 doctors applied for GP training places this year but there were only 121 places.
As well as having more GPs in training, alternative routes to training GPs also had to be looked at, he suggested. Some doctors who had spent years working in hospitals might well be interested in working in general practice but, at present, there was no provision for them to attain the additional training required, he indicated.
Dr Martin Daly, president of the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) and a GP in Galway, said it appeared that an increasing demand for a higher level of care from both the HSE and patients had forced a number of GPs to close their lists.
"The IMO's view is that there are plenty of young doctors in the country who want to train as GPs but there are simply not enough training places available," he said.
He suggested a targeted approach was also required in deprived urban areas and some rural areas which have difficulties in attracting GPs.
Dr Daly said general practice was still mostly a same-day service for most patients. "What we need to do is ensure we do not lose that accessibility," he said.
Only last month doctors unanimously passed a motion at the annual conference of the IMO calling on both the IMO and the Minister for Health to declare the "rapidly worsening" GP manpower shortage a national emergency.
Dr Illona Duffy, a GP in Monaghan, told the conference she knew women who, because they couldn't find a doctor, had been forced to attend A&E in order to renew a prescription for the contraceptive pill.