Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 20 April 2023
398. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Health the extent to which efforts are being made to replace GPs where the incumbents have retired leaving vacancies throughout the country; the number of such vacancies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18860/23]
View answerGPs are self-employed practitioners and therefore may establish practices at a place of their own choosing. There is no prescribed ratio of GPs to patients and the State does not regulate the number of GPs that can set up in a town or community.
Under the GMS scheme, the HSE contracts GPs to provide medical services without charge to medical card and GP visit card holders. Currently there are 2,539 GPs contracted to provide services under the GMS Scheme.
Where a vacancy arises in a practice with a GMS contract, the HSE becomes actively involved in the recruitment process to find a replacement GP. While recruitment is ongoing, the HSE put a locum or other suitable arrangement in place to provide continuity of care for the area concerned. As of the start of the month, there are 34 GMS vacancies across the country, approximately 1 percent of the total number of GMS panels. It is acknowledged that certain vacancies can be difficult to fill, possibly due to location and/or the financial viability of smaller practices.
The Government has undertaken several measures to improve the number of GPs working in the State and ensure patients continue to have access to GP services across the country.
Under the 2019 GP Agreement additional annual expenditure provided for general practice has been increased now by €211.6m. This provides for significant increases in capitation fees for participating GMS GPs, and new fees and subsidies for additional services. Improvements to GP’s maternity and paternity leave arrangements and a support for GPs in disadvantaged urban areas, have also been provided for. In addition, the enhanced supports package for rural GP practices was increased by 10%.
The number of doctors entering GP training has increased approximately ten percent year on year from 2019, rising from 193 in 2019 to 258 in 2022, and a further large increase is planned for this year. Following the transfer of responsibility for GP training from the HSE to the Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP), it is aimed to have 350 training places available for new entrants per year by 2026.
I recently published the Terms of Reference for a Strategic review of General Practice which is to commence shortly and will be completed this year. The review, with input from key stakeholders, will examine the broad range of issues affecting general practice including issues around GP capacity, and will set out the measures necessary to deliver a better general practice. The provision of GP services in certain rural and urban deprived areas that are underserved, and the possible mechanisms to attract more GPs to these locations, is a specific issue that will be examined under the review.
