Rural doctors in the Republic see more patients outside normal consultation hours than their urban colleagues, according to research published today.
The 1998 study of GPs in the North-Western, Mid-Western and Western Health Board areas, who provide medical care to more than 850,000 people along the western seaboard, found a significantly higher consultation rate in rural practices of 295 out-of-hours patient contacts per 1,000 patients. Urban doctors had an out-of-hours consultation rate of only 220 per 1,000 people.
The principal author, Prof Andrew Murphy, of the Department of General Practice at NUI Galway, said: "We have known for some time that certain things such as deprivation, poor patient health and increased morbidity increase GP out-of-hours activity. This is the first study to show that general practitioners based in rural areas will have relatively more out-of-hours contacts also."
In comparison with other European countries, Prof Murphy noted that "the Irish figures for out-of-hours calls are higher than the figures for mainland Europe". The latest research gives scientific backing for Department of Health plans to establish a network of co-operatives to provide out-of-hours medical care in the State.
Mr Noel Scott, primary care development manager with the North-Western Health Board, said: "Plans are at an advanced stage for the development of general practice co-operatives in the study area. The use of a nurse triage system will have a significant, and beneficial, effect on the workload of rural practitioners."