More needs to be done to improve the ongoing crisis facing GPs in rural Ireland. That's according to Monaghan GP, Dr Illona Duffy following figures published by the Irish Independent stating that more than two out of three GPs in rural Ireland are not taking on new patients. Dr Duffy also highlighted the waiting times for an appointment which differed greatly between urban and rural areas, with patients in the border counties of Cavan and Monaghan having to wait from anything between three days to one week of contacting the practice.
According to Dr Duffy, multiple patients on a daily basis are pleading with GPs to be taken on as a new patient, however surgeries right across Co Monaghan are unable to do so. Ireland as a whole has recorded a very low number of GPs per population, with the national average at 69 per one 100,000, however Co Monaghan has recorded a figure of even below that at 39 per 100,000. Speaking on today's Joe Finnegan Show, the local GP has called on more to be done to help alleviate the current situation which she says is getting progressively worse.
Dr Duffy continued; "There is a huge proportion of GPs who are due to retire soon with 25% of GPs over the age of 60. We’ve must attempt to get more young doctors trained and locals who can't get an appointment have to really push it and highlight this urgent issue with politicians at a local level."
