GPs gather at Dáil in funding protest
GPs turned out in force outside the Dáil yesterday in protest over what they say is a lack of funding for general practice and to demand changes to the contracts they have with the State – which they say are out of date and not fit for purpose. Their current contracts don’t entitle them to maternity leave or sick leave.
Organised by the National Association of GPs (NAGP), protesters demanded a reversal of the crash-era cuts they say are causing a crisis in the sector. Organisers say they want this reversal to be without preconditions, adding that this would be the only option that would be acceptable. The group says that years of cuts in funding had created an ‘inefficient, unstructured health system’, which is now collapsing. The attitude of the Government is ‘dishonest and negligent’, according to the President of the NAGP, Maitiú Ó Tuathail.
‘The morale that GPs have now... is so low, but there is also a negligent failure to offer services to our patients – because if we do not have the funding, we cannot do that,’ he said.
Dermot Quinlan, a GP in Glenmire in Co. Cork, said GPs were working 12-hour days to ensure patient safety in a system that is in crisis.