Written answers

Wednesday, 18 January 2023

Department of Health

General Practitioner Services

Photo of Eoin Ó BroinEoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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1209. To ask the Minister for Health if there is a process through which a person can be allocated a GP in order for the person to avail of combined care in circumstances (details supplied). [63416/22]

Photo of Eoin Ó BroinEoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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1212. To ask the Minister for Health if the HSE will assist a person (details supplied) to find and register with a GP service providing maternity care where the person has been unable to find a GP with capacity to take on any new patients. [63424/22]

Photo of Stephen DonnellyStephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1209 and 1212 together.

GPs are private practitioners, most of whom hold a contract with the HSE for the provision of health services, such as the GMS contract for the provision of health services to medical card and GP visit card holders.

Where a patient who holds a medical card or GP visit card 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 in which the Minister has no role 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.

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 been increased now by €211.6m. 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 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. 

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