Rural areas hit by critical lack of GPs

FAMILIES and the elderly in rural communities face a possible future without a GP as 18 vacant positions remain unfilled due to years of under-investment, it is claimed.

The Irish College of General Practitioners has said that some of positions have not been filled for up to three years due to lack of funding.

And pharmacies are suffering due to falling sales and increasing costs with more than half reporting decreasing sales, according to the Irish Pharmacy Union.

Communities across the country have been left without GPs due to an ageing GP population. Newly qualified doctors are emigrating for jobs and better salaries.

Medical director of ICGP, Margaret O’Riordan, said: ‘The situation is most severe in rural areas.

‘Unless corrective measures are introduced, the current trends in emigration and retirement will result in fewer general practitioners to treat patients in rural areas in the next ten years.’

She said: ‘Rural general practitioners have been hardest hit by austerity. The services patients enjoy in rural locations are not sustainable without restoration of some of the cuts made under FEMPI [Coalition austerity measures] or the Rural Practice Allowance, or both.’

As many as up to a fifth of GPs are aged 60 or above with almost a third aged over 55 according the ICGP. And 12.5 per cent of trainees are planning on emigrating after they qualify while 25 per cent are undecided, according to research last year.

There are regional disparities in areas at more risk of having fewer GPs in the future – 36 per cent of GPs in Carlow are aged over 60 while the figure is 28 per cent in Clare, Cork, Laois, and Wexford.

There are 2,773 GPs nationwide, excluding trainees, with 51.9 per cent being females.

Ms O’Riordan said: ‘Our analysis indicates a high number of GPs coming close to retirement age, and many established GPs are very disillusioned with the current situation regarding general practice in Ireland.

‘The difficulty facing the HSE in attracting GPs is only likely to worsen unless these issues are addressed. In t his scenario, patients throughout the country, and particularly patients in rural areas, will face increasing difficulty accessing a general practitioner in their local area in the years to come.’

The ICGP warned there was a growing divide between the rural and urban communities access to healthcare. Of the 18 vacancies, ten are in urban areas and eight are rural. Of the positions, ten unfilled for over a year and four for more than two years.

The HSE was unable to attract a doctor to replace the retiring GP in Feakle, Co. Clare, last year.

Residents, many of whom are elderly, now have to travel substantial distances to visit a doctor, which is made more difficult by poor public transport in the area.

A GP based in Gortnahoe, South Tipperary, recently retired. But his post was left unfilled despite the position being advertised twice so he was forced to return as a locum, said the ICGP.

Meanwhile, the pharmacy sector is under pressure from falling sales and footfall and increasing costs, according to the latest business trends survey from the IPU.

As many as 54 per cent of phar- macies report a reduction in sales, with dispensary sales particularly badly hit due to what pharmacists say is the impact of set drug prices payments from the HSE for drugs and the cuts under FEMPI.

More than a third of respondents reported a rise in costs, with energy costs, waste charges, rents and wages the areas most impacted.

Falling profits compared to this time last year have been reported by 68 per cent of pharmacy owners, with over half reporting that, from a trading perspective, they expect 2015 will be more difficult than the previous 12 months.

I PU vi ce - president Daragh Connolly said: ‘ The results from the survey are worrying but not surprising. The pharmacy sector has not benefited from the increase in economic activity seen in other sectors.

‘ It i s quite obvious that the impact of reference pricing, in particular, is having a detrimental effect on pharmacies, with many just about holding on.

‘In common with all small businesses, the cost environment for pharmacies remains a concern.

‘Unless remedial action is taken t o address t hese and other immediate concerns, pharmacies will continue to struggle and jobs will be lost.’

‘Posts are vacant for three years’