URGENT calls have been made to address the serious shortage of general practitioners (GPs, or family doctors) across Limerick after it was revealed that there are just 123 in the whole county contracted to treat medical card patients.
Soc Dems councillor Elisa O’Donovan, who represents Limerick City West, said that figures provided to her reveal that the number of GPs who hold a general medical services (GMS) contract with the HSE currently stands at 123 – 69 for Limerick City and 54 in the county.
Cllr O’Donovan said that the figure is “completely inadequate, especially when you consider that the ICGP (Irish College of General Practitioners) has advised that 300 doctors are required for Limerick”.
“Ultimately, a new GP contract is needed, but this won’t happen until the strategic review of general practice is completed.”
Cllr O’Donovan – who works as a speech and language therapist for the HSE – was informed that as per the GP Agreement 2023, “the number of patients that can be assigned to the GMS panel of a GP stands at 2,200. In the majority of cases, a medical card holder will be added to the GMS panel of the GP of their choice.”
“However, if and when a medical card holder is not successful in securing the services of the GP of their choice, they have to advise the PCRS in writing of the names of three GPs who refused to add them to their panel.”
“Given the chronic shortage of GPs in Limerick city and county, it is clear that the GMS contract is outdated and not fit for purpose,” Cllr O’Donovan said.
“The Minister and HSE must publish the strategic review without further delay.”
Asked by the Limerick Post what happens if a GP can not be found to take a patient, a HSE spokesperson said “the GP Assignment Team within the National Medical Card Unit will hold the patients’ application and they are reviewed individually”.
The spokesman said the team “will endeavour to assign the medical card patient to an available GMS panel within their geographical area”.
“If a GP cannot be located for the patient, the GP Assignment Team will operate the patient assignment process with consultation, as appropriate, with local offices”.
The HSE spokesperson pointed to two programmes aimed to address shortages.
The Fellowships Programme is a collaboration between the HSE, the Irish College of General Practitioners, and the Disciplines of General Practice at University of Limerick, allowing fellows to gain clinical experience working alongside rural GPs.
The International Medical Graduate Rural GP Programme (IMG) aims to identify, support, and integrate a cohort of International GPs into the Irish GP workforce from a jurisdiction that is not currently recognised as equivalent to criteria in Ireland. There are currently 11 IMG programmes in the Mid West.
