Retirements and no replacements leave Galway facing GP crisis

A GP and County Councillor has called on the HSE to address as a matter of urgency the ‘massive crisis’ in relation to the recruitment and retention of GPs across County Galway.

Cllr. Evelyn Parsons told the Connacht Tribune this week that the dwindling number of GPs (General Practitioners) working across Galway over recent years should send alarm bells ringing.

She said that with 30 per cent of GPs – in County Galway alone – set to retire over the next ten years, a massive crisis in this area was looming.

“And that’s even if those doctors due to retire over the next ten years, don’t decide to go before that, as the current dwindling number of GPs are overworked, overburdened and overstretched.

“They cannot get to take a break as they cannot get locums – many are exhausted from their gargantuan contribution during the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Dr. Parsons.

She said that she had raised the GP crisis issue at the Regional Health Forum over the past year and added that there was now an urgent need to put a workforce planning strategy in place to address the problem.

“Covid-19 has only exacerbated these issues and with one million patients on hospital waiting lists, the necessity to have a proper GP service was never more important.

“The number and complexity of these cases [people on the waiting list] has increased because of the postponement of non-essential care and also late presentations around accessing health care during a pandemic,” said Cllr. Parsons.

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