Dr. Diarmuid Quinlan:

I absolutely agree. GPs address a broad spectrum of illnesses. I treat people from cradle to grave. I provide palliative care, antenatal care and everything in between. Having said that, there are areas that I am better at and areas I am not as good at. Yesterday, I was in the Department of Health with the rare diseases group talking about how do we identify, manage and support people with rare diseases. Most GPs will deal with a very small number of people with rare diseases, and we depend on our specialist colleagues in that situation. For many GPs, the situation is very similar with addiction services. As part of our GP training we have an understanding of the matter. We are able to identify people and direct them to appropriate services. These patients require and deserve that specialist level of care. Therefore, it is appropriate for GPs to identify these people and signpost where they should go. We cannot prescribe for every condition. There are over 500 medical conditions. These are very specialist services and it is important that we have the training and skills to identify these people and refer them to appropriate colleagues in a timely, accessible and equitable fashion.