12 hours ago
TD warns GP services across Wicklow ‘at breaking point'
In 2023, Social Democrats TD for Wicklow Jennifer Whitmore conducted a survey of GP services across the county and the stark figures pointed to an emerging crisis, as she warned that communities across Wicklow were being left without access to basic healthcare.
Speaking to the Tánaiste, Simon Harris, in the Dáil on Thursday, June 19, Deputy Whitmore challenged the Government's failure to introduce salaried GPs, a key reform promised in the Programme for Government. She also highlighted the results of a new report that showed the need for at least 940 GPs over the coming 15 years in order to meet the demand that exists nationally.
'GP services are at breaking point,' she said. 'They are over-subscribed, under-staffed, and struggling to remain open. It is now standard to wait two or even three weeks for an appointment. That is simply not good enough.
'In 2023, I conducted a survey of GP practices across Wicklow. The results were stark; the vast majority were not accepting new patients. This is a clear sign that the system is under enormous strain and cannot meet the needs of our growing population,' Deputy Whitmore continued.
'Six in 10 GPs nationwide are not taking new patients, one in four GPs are over the age of 60 and set to retire within the next decade, and up to 30pc of newly trained GPs are emigrating. All the while, the population of Ireland is growing rapidly and outpacing GP availability.
'This is a ticking time bomb and it's about to go off. We are not meeting the demands of our communities. The Government is sleepwalking into a healthcare disaster,' she warned.
Deputy Whitmore criticised the delay in publishing the long-promised Strategic Review of General Practice, which began in April 2023 and remains incomplete more than two years later.
'We don't need another review to tell us what is blindingly obvious; we need more GPs, and we need them now. The Government has been far too slow to act, and the consequences are becoming insurmountable.
'We need to see the immediate rollout of salaried GPs, because the current model is deterring young doctors from entering general practice. Many young GPs want to focus on medicine, not on running a business. Salaried GP roles would remove the financial and administrative burdens, restore work-life balance, and allow the HSE to directly address GP blackspots like those in Blessington and across Wicklow.
'GPs are crying out for support and patients are crying out for healthcare. It's time for the Government to stop talking and start acting,' Deputy Whitmore concluded.
The Tániaste conceded it was 'a real challenge in lots of communities' and replied that the annual intake to the GP training scheme had increased by approximately 80pc between 2019 and 2024.
He said there has also been increased investment in general practice and pointed to one of the positive developments in the constituency, which was the roll-out of the out-of-hours GP service in Loughlinstown.
"That service that did not exist five or six years ago," he said.
Deputy Harris said some 118 GPs have chosen to come to Ireland and there are plans to get the number up to 250.
'Let me be clear that I am aware of – and am not in any way disputing – the huge challenges that exist in terms of capacity. People are waiting too long too see a GP. There is a need to ramp up capacity in general practice further, not just the number of doctors but also the number of support staff,' he said.
