Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 July 2018
1681. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Health his plans to address the general practitioner shortage across the country (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34085/18]
Amharc ar fhreagra1682. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Health the number of general practitioners across the country by area, by population and demographics; his views on whether these numbers are enough to provide a service for all; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34086/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 1681 and 1682 together.
The Government is committed to delivering more non-acute care within the primary care sector, so that better care closer to home can be provided for communities around the country.GPs play an important role in the primary care system. The number of GPs on the specialist register has increased from 2,270 in 2010 to 3,669 in July 2018. The number of GPs contracted by the HSE under the GMS scheme has also risen from 2,098 in 2008 to 2,494 over the same period. A further 422 GPs are contracted by the HSE under other public health schemes such as the Primary Childhood Immunisation Scheme.
It should be noted that as of 1 June 2018 there were only 20 GMS panels that do not have a permanent GP in place – a vacancy rate of less than 1%.
The HSE Primary Care Reimbursement Service publishes monthly online reports on the numbers of health contractors it holds contracts with broken down by CHO and LHO area, including GPs. These reports can be accessed at the following web address: https://www.sspcrs.ie/portal/annual-reporting/
The Government is aware of the manpower issues facing general practice and has implemented a number of measures in recent years.
In 2009, there were 120 General Practice training places available and this year it is expected that over 190 training places will be filled. The Government intends to increase the number of training places to 259 in coming years. There were over 400 applications for the 2018 training programme which is a significant increase of almost 50% on the number of applications from 2017.
Other initiatives include changes to the entry provisions to the GMS scheme to accommodate more flexible/shared GMS/GP contracts and to the retirement provisions for GPs under the GMS scheme, allowing GPs to hold GMS contracts until their 72nd birthday, as well as the introduction of an enhanced supports package for rural GP practices.
The Government is committed to engaging with the representatives of GPs on the development of a package of measures and reforms to the current GMS contract which will enable additional resources to be put into general practice if agreement can be reached.
