Dr. Mary Flynn:

Yes, there should be a complaint made in a situation where that arises. We would not stand over it. Saturday visits are covered mainly by an out-of-hours service so there should have been no question of that happening. It is difficult to understand how that happened.

Deputy Kelleher mentioned that remuneration was a big issue for GPs and that remuneration abroad was more attractive but it is not the only issue. How we practise day-to-day and our job satisfaction is dictated to a large extent by the other services we can access. When I have somebody in front of me who is suffering psychological distress and I want to refer that person to a psychologist, I have no access whatsoever if that patient cannot afford to pay. If I want physiotherapy for somebody with acute back pain who is holding down a job and who I want to get back to work quickly, I have no hope of getting it because our current waiting list in Wicklow is six months. Our job is made increasingly difficult by not having timely access to services. There is no uniformity across the country. In terms of diagnostics, I work in an area where we are extremely lucky. Global diagnostics is based in a primary care centre in Arklow. We have one week access to chest X-rays and we have ultrasound in two to three weeks. There are GP friends of mine who work in other areas of the country who just cannot imagine having a service like that. There is absolutely no uniformity which is really very unfair to patients. I do not know why that service cannot be replicated in other areas. It is a very simple thing and it would make a huge difference to what patients can access in their local communities and to the job satisfaction for GPs.