Finian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Heydon for raising this important issue. I commend him on his work and interest in GP training in particular and on his views on and support for developing our GP services and, more generally, the national health service. I assure the House that the Government is committed to ensuring that patients across Ireland continue to have access to GP services, especially in remote rural areas and disadvantaged or socially deprived ones.

Several efforts have been undertaken in recent years to ensure that general practice remains an attractive and rewarding career option and to attract more GPs into the workforce. These include: changes to the entry provisions to the General Medical Services, GMS, scheme to accommodate flexible-shared GMS-GP contracts and the extension of the retirement age for GPs under the GMS scheme to 72 years; an increase in the annual number of GP training places; and the introduction of an enhanced supports package for rural GP practices. In addition, proposals are being developed to introduce supports for GPs working in areas of social deprivation as part of the GP contracts review process. A mapping exercise is under way and will inform the setting of eligibility criteria and the actual content of the support framework. The GP contracts review process will, inter alia, seek to introduce further measures aimed at making general practice an attractive, fulfilling and rewarding career option into the future.

GPs are essential to the provision of accessible services to patients in the most appropriate setting. Increasing demands on the health system will have a major impact on the future need for GPs. The HSE's national doctors training and planning unit is working on developing detailed workforce plans for different medical specialties. Its report, Future Demand for General Practitioners 2015-2025, found that there was an under-supply of GPs. I accept Deputy Heydon's point in that regard. Medical workforce planning for general practice has, therefore, been prioritised in this context.

The HSE and the ICGP announced this year that they had reached general agreement on the future delivery of the national programme of specialist GP training by the latter. This is an important change in the way that GP training is delivered and funded and will ensure that we build more training capacity while maintaining the high quality of training required of our GPs.

The annual GP trainee intake was increased from 157 to 172 this year. This is an increase of 53 places on the number for 2010, when GP training places stood at only 119. This further step is crucial to ensure the capacity is there for GPs and primary care to take on additional responsibilities, including greater GP care coverage and the management of chronic diseases within the community rather than in hospitals. The programme for a partnership Government also recognises the need to build GP capacity and commits to increasing the number of GP training places over the next five years to 259 places annually.

GP training programmes are delivered by 14 separate GP training programmes throughout the country and are not designed along county boundaries. County Kildare does not have its own dedicated GP training programme but there are several GP trainees based in GP trainer practices in County Kildare. These trainees are principally aligned to the midlands and Trinity training programmes, with 14 in the midlands programme and four in the Trinity programme, a total of 18. The Department will continue to work with the HSE and the Irish College of General Practitioners to ensure the general public can continue to have ready access to GP services and that doctors have access to GP training opportunities.

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