Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 December 2023
833. Deputy Jim O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Health the main initiatives he has taken to develop and expand general practitioner services since 27 June 2020; the additional funding provided in successive budgets; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55293/23]
View answerA number of significant developments were undertaken in the period concerned to increase the number of GPs working in the State and improve access to GP services for all patients across the country.
The 2019 GP Agreement was rolled out from 2019 to 2023. The Agreement provided for significant increases in capitation fees for participating GPs, the introduction of new fees for additional services, and increased practice supports and allowances. Over €211 million in additional annual investment in general practice has been provided for under the Agreement through successive budgets.
The Agreement also provided for the GP Chronic Disease Management (CDM) Programme which commenced operation in 2020 and has now been fully rolled out under the terms of that Agreement. The CDM Programme engages with patients to encourage a pro-active management of four chronic conditions: COPD, diabetes, asthma, and cardiac diseases. The programme has been progressively extended to include all GMS patients suffering from one or more of the four conditions, and to extend opportunistic case-finding to all GMS patients aged 45 and over.
Additional funding was provided under Budget 2023 to expand the CDM Preventative Programme to include all women who have been diagnosed with gestational diabetes or pre-eclampsia since January 2023, a cohort at particular risk of developing diabetes. This initiative commenced on Thursday 30th November and was one of a number of diabetes initiative funded under that Budget, including provision for the development of a National Diabetes Register.
As provided for under Budget 2023 and the recent GP Agreement 2023, GP visit card eligibility has now been extended to all those who earn up to the median household income and to all children aged 6 and 7. The funding provided for this expansion of GP care without charges includes a package worth €30 million specifically to support capacity in general practice; to enable GPs to retain staff and recruit additional staff to meet demand. An additional support of €2 million for GP Out of Hours services is also included.
To directly increase the number of GPs working in the State, the number of doctors entering GP training has been successively increased in recent years, with 286 new entrants for this year and funding provided to increase the places for new entrants planned for next year to 350.
Furthermore, the joint HSE and ICGP programme is underway to bring up to 100 non-EU GPs to Ireland in 2023 which will help to quickly improve access to GP services, particularly in areas with limited access. With increased funding provided for next year, it is planned to bring to Ireland up to 250 more non-EU GPs by the end of 2024.
Lastly, my Department and the HSE have commenced a Strategic Review of General Practice. The review, with input from key stakeholders, will examine the broad range of issues affecting general practice, including issues related to GP capacity, and will set out the measures necessary to deliver a more sustainable general practice into the future.
It is worth also noting that significant additional funding was provided to general practice during the Covid-19 pandemic to both support GP practices and to provide related services without charge to patients, including Covid GP assessments and referrals for testing.
