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Doctors highlight ‘brain drain’
GPs from all over the country gathered in Galway city last weekend – to lament the medical ‘brain drain’ caused by low pay and poor prospects for newly qualified members of their profession.
Over 300 medics attended the Irish College of General Practitioners annual three-day conference in the Radisson Hotel, where they highlighted the wave of young doctors who were emigrating in search of work.
And this – combined with the ageing population – was a particular cause for concern across the profession, according to one Galway GP in attendance.
Dr. Sinead Murphy of the Galway Bay Medical Centre spoke of the problems facing general practitioners in Ireland underlining her understanding of the issues at hand.
“It’s different in cities than it is rurally… We need more doctors to deliver the same amount of care than there would have been before… In Galway city it’s a little bit different from everywhere else, as there are plenty of young GPs available who want to work.
“The problem is that we can’t afford to give them work; not enough, especially, practices that set up in recent years.”
Minister for Primary Care, Social Care and Mental Health, Kathleen Lynch, was also present at the event which gave GP’s a forum to discuss their concerns – not least the contract for the provision of free medical care for under sixes and the ageing GP population affecting rural Ireland.
But speaking to the Connacht Tribune, Dr. Murphy dispelled the myth that this was a manpower issue.
“It’s awful to hear people saying we have a manpower crisis and that we need to train more GPs, when it’s clearly not the issue at all.
“We’ve trained a huge number of excellent GP’s and what they [the Government] need to do is engage with those GP’s and see what kind of a job would they be interested in staying for and why don’t they just offer that?”
Dr. Murphy was also unequivocal on the issues affecting her colleagues working outside of cities in rural areas – describing it as ‘absolutely criminal’ that the rural practice allowance was taken away.
“I know a lot of colleagues of mine are struggling and I think that that is wrong. It’s a very different type of medicine when you’re in the middle of nowhere with none of the back-up that we would have here in the city,” she said.
Minister Lynch had previously stated that the allowance hasn’t been abolished, but reduced.
The Rural Practice Allowance is a scheme whereby GPs are eligible for an allowance if they live and practice in a rural area with a population of less than 500 and where there is not a town with a population of 1,500 people within a three mile radius of the practice in question.
The HSE also needs to feel that it is necessary to pay an allowance to retain a doctor/practice in the specific area.
So far the contract has not lived up to the expectations of GPs according to Dr. Murphy “look at the out of hours commitments and the obligations and responsibilities on the doctors and the lack of responsibilities on the HSE in that contract.
“It’s not in any way attractive to somebody who wants to set up a practice or take over a business on those terms.
“I hear it all the time from doctors who are working in rural areas, that they are completely swamped and cannot get a locum to work there at all.
“I suppose if the contract was better structured it would attract enough locums (another doctor to provide cover) to the areas where you cannot get enough locums and it would provide enough income for the practice to hire enough doctors to run the practice safely,” she said.
She also discussed the viability of some rural practices and the difficulties being faced in rural areas.
“Unlike the hospital setting where you have guaranteed income and security, and don’t need to pay for the overheads of running a practice, in this way practices are different. The idea of getting into a practice where the viability of it has disappeared in a lot of areas a long time ago, there is just nothing to attract people to it [rural practices] and this contract does nothing to reverse it.”
The contract in question is related to the provision of free medical care for children under six.
Last year the HSE issued this contract to all of the existing 2,400 GPs who held General Medical Services (GMS) contracts in Ireland, on top of this, it was also open to any qualified GP who did not hold a GMS contract to apply.
As GPs are effectively independent contractors it has been up to each doctor to individually decide whether they would in or opt out of this new arrangement.
A lot of the concerns raised by the GP’s in attendance were predominantly focused on the above contract.
“I’d be in favour of free GP care for people who need it and ultimately the whole country if we can do that properly, but it has to be done properly in a way that’ll work.
“The concern with the free GP care is that if you don’t do it properly the current very high standard of access is in jeopardy,” she said.
She felt the current draft of the contract, while an improvement from the first effort, was still too “HSE and Government-friendly and not GP or patient-friendly.”
Ultimately, Dr. Murphy feels that free health care for the whole population is something to strive for, as healthcare is a basic human right.
The imminent implementation of the free medical care for under sixes is slated for July and she feels it is very much a rushed timeline.
“While the government said that there will be free GP from July, that is unlikely to be the case, most of us want to do this, but we want to do it with the right back-up so more of us don’t end up going out of business… leaving people with any GP service.”
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
On the eve of completing his 150th marathon, an odyssey that has taken him across 53 countries, Loughrea’s Marathon Man has announced that he is planning to hang up his running shoes.
But not before Jarlath Fitzgerald completes another ten races, making it 160 marathons on the occasion of his 60th birthday.
“I want to draw the line in 2026. I turn 57 in October and when I reach 60 it’s the finishing line. The longer races are taking it out of me. I did 20 miles there two weeks ago and didn’t feel good. It’s getting harder,” he reveals.
“I’ve arthritis in both hips and there’s wear and tear in the knees.”
We speak as he is about to head out for a run before his shift in Supervalu Loughrea. Despite his physical complaints, he still clocks up 30 miles every second week and generally runs four days a week.
Jarlath receives injections to his left hip to keep the pain at bay while running on the road.
To give his joints a break, during the winter he runs cross country and often does a five-mile trek around Kylebrack Wood.
He is planning on running his 150th marathon in Cork on June 4, where a group of 20 made up of work colleagues, friends and running mates from Loughrea Athletics Club will join him.
Some are doing the 10k, others are doing the half marathon, but all will be there on the finishing line to cheer him on in the phenomenal achievement.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
From the Galway City Tribune – An impassioned plea for a ‘masterplan’ that would guide Galway City into the future has been made in the Dáil. Galway West TD Catherine Connolly stated this week that there needed to be an all-inclusive approach with “vision and leadership” in order to build a sustainable city.
Deputy Connolly spoke at length at the crisis surrounding traffic and housing in Galway city and said that not all of the blame could be laid at the door of the local authority.
She said that her preference would be the provision of light rail as the main form of public transport, but that this would have to be driven by the government.
“I sat on the local council for 17 years and despaired at all of the solutions going down one road, metaphorically and literally. In 2005 we put Park & Ride into the development plan, but that has not been rolled out. A 2016 transport strategy was outdated at the time and still has not been updated.
“Due to the housing crisis in the city, a task force was set up in 2019. Not a single report or analysis has been published on the cause of the crisis,” added Deputy Connolly.
She then referred to a report from the Land Development Agency (LDA) that identified lands suitable for the provision of housing. But she said that two-thirds of these had significant problems and a large portion was in Merlin Park University Hospital which, she said, would never have housing built on it.
In response, Minister Simon Harris spoke of the continuing job investment in the city and also in higher education, which is his portfolio.
But turning his attention to traffic congestion, he accepted that there were “real issues” when it came to transport, mobility and accessibility around Galway.
“We share the view that we need a Park & Ride facility and I understand there are also Bus Connects plans.
“I also suggest that the City Council reflect on her comments. I am proud to be in a Government that is providing unparalleled levels of investment to local authorities and unparalleled opportunities for local authorities to draw down,” he said.
Then Minister Harris referred to the controversial Galway City Outer Ring Road which he said was “struck down by An Bord Pleanála”, despite a lot of energy having been put into that project.
However, Deputy Connolly picked up on this and pointed out that An Bord Pleanála did not say ‘No’ to the ring road.
“The High Court said ‘No’ to the ring road because An Bord Pleanála acknowledged it failed utterly to consider climate change and our climate change obligations.
“That tells us something about An Bord Pleanála and the management that submitted such a plan.”
In the end, Minister Harris agreed that there needed to be a masterplan for Galway City.
“I suggest it is for the local authority to come up with a vision and then work with the Government to try to fund and implement that.”
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
