GPs face patients hike

IRISH GPs could face an extra 640,000 consultations a year, when the Budget extension of free GP care to 400,000 more people is fully active.

The claim was made at the Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP) autumn conference yesterday, which also heard that 74% of GPs are unable to take on new patients.

The ICGP urged Health Minister Stephen Donnelly to immediately act on an earlier promise to establish a strategic review of general practice, and to set up a working group ‘as a matter of urgency’.

The chairman of the ICGP board, Dr John Farrell said: ‘More and more patients are unable to register with a GP practice, because many practice lists are at full capacity, and already there are significant waiting times for routine appointments.’

The extra 400,000 people in line for free GP care include those on or below the median level of income, to be introduced next year, and all six and seven-year-olds, to be in effect by the end of this year.