Primary Care: A New Direction represents one of the most significant developments to have been proposed for primary care in Ireland. This strategy will shape the development of primary care and policy related to it in the coming years. The key objective of the strategy is to shift the emphasis from our current over-reliance on acute services, such as hospitals, to one-stop-shops where patients will be able to access a team of general practitioners, nurses, physiotherapists, chiropodists, social workers and home helps. This strengthened primary care system will play a more central role as the first and ongoing point of contact for people with the health care system.