Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for taking the time to be here. She and I attended a meeting on Monday evening in the Shearwater Hotel at which GPs from the Ballinasloe and south-east Galway area came together. They came from group practices, including the Marina House and Dunlo medical centres, which are well known in Ballinasloe town. These cover a huge area, not only of County Galway but also of south County Roscommon because we are right on the county boundary. It includes places like Taghmaconnell, Moore, Aughrim and Clontuskert. We also had GPs representing single practices, including Dr. Mary Murphy from Laurencetown health centre, Dr. Ranga from the Eyrecourt medical centre and Dr. Ferguson from Kiltormer health centre. Kilconnell, where there is a locum and no GP, was also represented.

As the Minister of State will be aware, I and other public representative have raised this matter for the past number of years. The network of GPs in the area provides an excellent service 24 hours per day, 365 days a year. They do night-time and weekend cover. These GPs are suffering, as are patients and families in the region. We have a crisis because people cannot access Westdoc supports. Westdoc, which is co-funded by the HSE, can provide cover and support GP networks all around the county. There are challenging areas, including east and south-east Galway. Portumna, which is in the Minister of State's area, is a big challenge, as is Moycullen. These are areas of the west that face a huge challenge in recruitment and retention. How on earth can we attract quality GPs to start a life, live in our region and perform an invaluable service to our community? The GP is the first point of call for people getting health checks, X-rays or blood tests or dealing with a family crisis. How is the State supporting the GP network in east and south-east Galway? How are we going to recruit? The HSE had to bring a locum into Kilconnell and there are other locums because there are about ten vacancies in the west. These locums are costing approximately €180,000 each.

All of the local public representatives attended the meeting on Monday, as did HSE representatives from Community Healthcare West. I am grateful they were able to attend. They highlighted that the cost of a locum in Kiltormer was €180,000 and that the overall cost of cover with Westdoc was roughly €528,000. The HSE group in the area submitted requests last year and the year before that but no funding is arriving and none has been allocated. GPs in the area are at crisis point. We have heard stories, as has the Minister of State, of GPs working for 40 hours straight. They then have to get into a car and travel. This is putting doctors and patients at risk. There is no EU working time directive for GPs. We need to protect our GPs and ensure they have a good work-life balance. I know the Minister of State has been supportive on this issue. She spoke with the GPs who attended, including Dr. Genevieve Flynn and Dr. Jennings, women who are working in our region. What about bringing in young GPs, including young women GPs with families?How on earth are young GPs, GPs with families, going to support doing a one-in-eight rota and trying to work 13 days in a row? These are doctors who have not taken a break since January and are afraid to bring locums in because, if they do, the locums will not provide the same level of service as they do and how are they going to be responsible for their community? There is a commitment and a diligence to patients in our local area.

I have written a letter to the Minister for Health, Deputy Donnelly. I know the Minister of State has mentioned we might potentially be able to hold a meeting. This is something I have raised over recent years, as have GPs, but we need a solution. Is this going to come out of the winter service plan or from the budget that has been allocated for GP visit cards, where it has been stated there is extra budget for GPs and the GP network? We have expanded the GP cards now to people under the median income from April of next year. Where are the funds with which we can support our GPs right now? I do not want to lose any more GPs in my region and I am responsible for that Ballinasloe to south-east Galway area.