Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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233. To ask the Minister for Health if he will review correspondence from Monaghan County Council regarding general practitioner shortages in south County Monaghan; if he will investigate these concerns with a view to finding a solution; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47359/22]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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GPs are self-employed practitioners and therefore may establish practices at a place of their own choosing. There is no prescribed ratio of GPs to patients and the State does not regulate the number of GPs that can set up in a town or community.

Under the GMS scheme, the HSE contracts GPs to provide medical services without charge to medical card and GP visit card holders. Currently there are 2,522 GPs contracted to provide services under the GMS Scheme.

Where a GP GMS vacancy is set to arise in a practice, the HSE is notified in advance and becomes actively involved in the recruitment process to find a replacement GP. As of the 1st of September, there are 24 GMS vacancies across the country, just under 1 percent of the total number of GMS panels; there is one GP GMS vacancy in County Monaghan in Monaghan town.

The Government is aware of the workforce issues currently facing general practice and is working to ensure patients across the country continue to have access to GP services and that general practice is sustainable in all areas into the future.

Under the 2019 GP Agreement the additional annual expenditure provided for general practice has to date been increased by €206.6m and is set to increase to €211.6m per annum next year when the Agreement is fully rolled out. This provides for significant increases in capitation fees for participating GMS GPs, and new fees and subsidies for additional services. Improvements to GP’s maternity and paternity leave arrangements, increased rural practice supports and a support for GPs in disadvantaged urban areas, have also been provided for.

The number of GPs entering training has increased steadily over the past number of years, rising from 120 in 2009 to 258 in 2022. The transfer of GP training from the HSE to the Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP) which was concluded in 2021 will allow for the introduction of a new service model for GP training in Ireland and the further expansion GP training capacity in the years ahead. The ICGP aims to have 350 training places available for new entrants per year by 2026.

These measures will see an increase in the number of GPs working in the State, improving access to GP services for patients throughout the country.

Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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234. To ask the Minister for Health if he will review the latest correspondence from a person (details supplied) in County Monaghan who cannot get a general practitioner to accept them or their spouse; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47362/22]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Where a GMS patient experiences difficulty in finding a GP to accept them as a patient, the person concerned having unsuccessfully applied to at least three GPs in the area (or fewer if there are fewer GPs in the area) can apply to the HSE National Medical Card Unit which has the power to assign that person to a GP's GMS patient list.

People who do not hold a medical card or GP visit card access GP services on a private basis and can make enquiries directly to any GP practice they wish to register with. As private contractors, it is a matter for each individual GP to decide whether to accept additional private patients. Where a GP practice has a full list of patients and cannot take on new patients, patients should contact other GP practices in the surrounding areas.

The Government is aware of the workforce issues currently facing general practice and is working to ensure patients across the country continue to have access to GP services and that general practice is sustainable in all areas into the future.

Under the 2019 GP Agreement additional annual expenditure provided for general practice has to date been increased by €206.6m and is set to increase to €211.6m per annum next year when the Agreement is fully rolled out. This provides for significant increases in capitation fees for participating GMS GPs, and new fees and subsidies for additional services. Improvements to GP’s maternity and paternity leave arrangements, increased rural practice supports and a support for GPs in disadvantaged urban areas, have also been provided for.

The number of doctors entering GP training has increased approximately ten percent year on year from 2019, rising from 193 in 2019 to 258 in 2022. Following the transfer of responsibility for GP training from the HSE to the Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP), the ICGP aims to have 350 training places available for new entrants per year by 2026.

Preparatory work has commenced on a strategic review of GP services to examine how best to ensure the provision of GP services in Ireland for the future. The review will examine the broad range of issues affecting general practice in general and in rural areas specifically, and will set out the measures necessary to deliver a better general practice.

These measures make general practice in Ireland a more attractive career choice and will see an increase in the number of GPs working in the State, improving access to GP services for patients throughout the country.