General Practice is “under serious strain”, the Irish College of General Practitioners has said ahead of an appearance at the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health today. 

The submission noted that members derived “great satisfaction” from their work but was up front that the profession is “in the midst of a general practice workforce and workload crisis that is getting worse.”

“We cannot meet the current or future GP workforce or workload demands,” it said. 

“We are not adequately resourced to meet current or future patient’s clinical needs. 

“GP practices are busier than ever, but less able to find replacements for retiring GPs, or new GPs to expand their practices and deal with growing workloads.”

A doctor collecting samples while a man donates blood in December 2017. Picture by: EyeEm / Alamy Stock Photo

The submission includes 10 policy proposals that they believe would ease the crisis including; doubling the number of GP nurses, exploration of more remote consultations and greater incentives to work in rural Ireland. 

“We must act now to protect our patients and to retain high quality clinical care within the community,” the submission urges. 

“We need our Government and key stakeholders to respond decisively.”

Main image: Doctor measures the blood pressure of a patient. Image: Piotr Adamowicz / Alamy