Harris to invest heavily in GP sector to battle ‘tsunami’ of patients on trolleys
THE rising tide of patients languishing on hospital trolleys will become a ‘tsunami’ due to the ongoing GP shortage nationwide, a former president of the Irish Medical Organisation warned.
He made the comments as Minister for Health Simon Harris yesterday told GPs at an IMO conference in Killarney that talks between the State and the doctors’ group on a new GP contract and reversing fee cuts are due to begin within weeks.
In a speech to the IMO, he indicated that significant investment in general practice is planned, to ensure it is sustainable and to move away from an overly hospitalcentred health service.
The scale of extra money likely to be offered for a new contract wasn’t made clear, however, and this is set to be a major issue between the negotiating sides.
‘I know this has put many of you under stress and strain and you have raised important concerns about its impact on your ability to do your job and to meet the needs of our citizens,’ Harris told doctors.
‘Following the publication of the Public Service Pay and Pensions Act late last year, along with my colleague the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, I made it clear that we are committed to engaging with health contractors on the revision of fees as allowed under the new legislation.’
Speaking to the Irish Mail on Sunday before the speech, Dr Ray Walley, a GP in north Dublin, said the shortage of GPs nationwide is leading patients to turn up at the doors of emergency departments and resort to more desperate measures, leaving an ‘underfunded’ health system in ‘freefall.’
Dr Walley, a past president and chairman of the IMO, said for over a decade it has warned of the pending implosion in the health service. Each submission highlighted this crisis, but middle-aged GPs are now following younger doctors abroad as they are unable to cope with Government cuts.
Coupled with a growing numbers of patients on hospital trolleys, he said ‘the system is grinding to a halt’.