Ireland does not have enough GPs to meet our growing population demand, the Irish College of General Practitioners has warned.
New data shows there was a 3.1% increase in population last year and just a 0.6% rise in GP numbers.
Just two counties - Galway and Waterford - meet the World Health Organisation's (WHO) standard of 1,000 GPs per 100,000 people for 'satisfactory' levels of care.
The lowest numbers of GPs are seen in Meath, Monaghan, Kildare and Kilkenny.
Source: Irish College of GPsGalway-based GP Dr Brian Higgins told The Pat Kenny Show that the numbers simply don't reflect the increase in people moving into different areas.
"When you look at those statistics I think that's the number of GPs that you need to deliver a reasonable standard of care to the patients of the area," he said.
"Unfortunately, that doesn't facilitate the fact that all of our major urban areas are growing.
"While it means that we can thankfully provide a good standard of care to the patients we already have, it still means new patients moving to the area are finding it incredibly difficult to find a GP".
Ageing population
Dr Higgins said an ageing population will also see things get more complicated.
"One of the positive things is that we have better technology, we've better medication, we're better able to manage our patients," he said.
"The delivery of that care has become more complex and then, as our patients age, they have more complex needs.
"So you have this increasing of complexity on both sides which sometimes means we have more of a need to see our doctors.
"It can be difficult to reach the demands of [that] care while still looking after your entire patient demographic".
Source: Irish College of GPsDr Higgins said Ireland's dispersed population could also make it more difficult to attract GPs.
"We're very fortunate in Galway insofar as it's probably easier to attract colleagues to come and work in an urban centre," he said.
"It's quite a difficult thing in rural areas; maybe you're looking at practices that have one GP working on their own – and they’re not able to get any cover so they can even take holidays.
"When GPs are coming out of their training I think it's probably more attractive to for them to join a larger centre like mine".
Dr Higgins said changes coming down the line may result in more admin work for GPs.
"I think GPs are sometimes used as a safety net for the rest of the health service," he said.
"As that health service is dysfunctioning, unfortunately, it creates more non-clinical work for GPs when it comes to patients being taken off hospital outpatient lists or long delays to be seen in hospitals.
"Even some of the proposed changes in pharmacy, allowing the pharmacist to prescribe, if the GPs are going to be having to sign off on those or manage the admin... it means we're spending more of our time doing paperwork."
The Irish College of GPs used Medical Council data and its own internal data and matched it against the most recent population growth figures.
