Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

288. To ask the Minister for Health his plans to provide additional resources for primary care; if his attention has been drawn to the particular difficulties facing many general practitioner practices in areas such as counties Cavan and Monaghan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14882/18]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The development of primary care is central to the Government's objective to deliver a high-quality, integrated and cost-effective health care system.  The Slaintecare Report also made significant recommendations in relation to shifting the model of healthcare towards a more comprehensive and accessible primary care service in order to deliver better care close to home in communities across the country.

The provision of a  €25 million primary care development fund in Budget 2018 is evidence of this Government's continued investment in primary care.  This funding has been allocated to enable a range of primary care initiatives to be progressed in 2018 which will focus on disease prevention and early intervention, particularly through the further development and expansion of GP services, community intervention teams and the recruitment of additional occupational therapy posts.  Throughout 2018 there will also be a continued focus on the development of primary care centres and primary care teams.

General Practitioners play an important role in the primary care system. There is a clear need to modernise the GMS contract and ensure that general practice is a viable and rewarding career for medical graduates. The aim is to develop a contract with a population health focus, providing in particular for health promotion and disease prevention and for the structured ongoing care of chronic conditions.

A new contract must be flexible and be able to respond to the changing nature of the GP workforce. It must also include provisions in relation to service quality and standards, performance, accountability and transparency. This will be key in making general practice a more attractive career. I expect that engagement with GP representatives on contractual issues will commence in the coming weeks.

The Government is committed to increasing GP capacity to ensure that patients across the country continue to have access to GP services and that general practice is sustainable in all areas into the future.  Efforts undertaken in recent years to increase the number of practising GPs include changes to the entry provisions to the GMS scheme to accommodate more flexible/shared GMS/GP contracts, and to the retirement provisions for GPs under the GMS scheme, allowing GPs to hold GMS contracts until their 72nd birthday, as well as the introduction of enhanced supports for rural GP practices.

The Government has taken steps to expand GP training. In 2009, there were 120 GP training places and this year there are over 190 GP training places available for the 2018 GP training intake. The Government is committed to further increasing this number to 259 places annually.