Two failed attempts to recruit replacement GP for Macroom
SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN THE DEMAND FOR SERVICES OF MACROOM GPS SAYS HSE
TWO attempts to replace a retired GP in Macroom have failed, a spokesperson for the Cork Kerry Community Healthcare has told this newspaper.
The admission comes in the wake of The Corkman report last week in which it was revealed that some families have to travel roundtrips of up to 60 kilometres to attend a doctor as the lists of all six GPs operating in Macroom are full.
Fianna Fáil TD Aindrias Moynihan said that the GPs in Macroom were under increased pressure as the outof-hours rota meant that they were working one in six hours when they would otherwise be off.
Speaking in the Dáil, Deputy Moynihan said: “GP services in mid Cork are becoming completely oversubscribed with people now having to travel long distances to see a doctor.
“In some cases, people who have moved to Macroom are having to travel back to the place they used to live to see their doctor.
“Some are having to go as far afield as Killarney, Mallow and Tralee because there are no available GPs in Macroom.”
In a statement to The Corkman, a spokesperson for Cork Kerry Community Healthcare acknowledged there had been ‘challenges’ following the retirement of a GP in the town during the summer and that there had been a significant increase in the demand for the services of the remaining GPs in Macroom.
“We are aware that GPs in the Macroom area, and the local out of hours (OOH) service are reporting a significant increase in demand for their services – this would also include for private patients.
“We understand that some of the reasons attributed are the introduction of free GP care for the under-sixes, and the fact that many people in Macroom commute to work in Cork city which means that they attend their GP late in the evening, or use the out of hours GP service.”
The spokesperson said the recent retirement of a GP had ‘posed some challenges’ and outlined that while two attempts to recruit a replacement GP to take on the list had been unsuccessful, efforts were continuing to support the work of the Macroom GPs.
“In the meantime, we are funding a locum GP in the area, as well as other practice staff.
“We will continue to fund this locum doctor until a GP takes on the GMS list, so that eligible medical card holders continue to receive the care to which they are entitled.”
The spokesperson also said that measures had been put in place to alleviate the pressure on the Macroom based GPs out of hours.
“We have recently funded SouthDoc to provide locums for Sunday shifts, to reduce the commitment required from local GPs.
“We have also assisted SouthDoc to prepare a detailed plan to improve the supports to the OOH service in the area, so that the commitment needed from Macroom GPs could be reduced further – however, there are challenges in implementing this plan due to the difficulties in recruiting locum GPs, either within Ireland or from abroad.”
The spokesperson said that Cork Kerry Community Health Care did not employ GPS but did have ‘contracts with GP practices to provide services for medical card holders and currently there were six such contracts in the Macroom area.
“The number of contracts which we hold for medical card holders has remained the same over the last 5 years. - there were also six such contracts in place five years ago.”