A Donegal County Councillor has said there is a clear need for more GPs in the county to meet the surge in population.
Cllr Gerry McMonagle said the rise in population and the arrival of more than 10,000 refugees has put major pressure on rural services.
It comes as the HSE said that there are no vacancies for GPs in General Medical Services in Donegal.
Seven GP contracts were processed by the Primary Care Development Unit for Donegal GPs in 2024. One GMS GP contract was awarded in January with another contract to be issued in the coming week.
Cllr McMonagle welcomed the recruitment that has been completed to date, but pointed out that the information flies in the face of what he is hearing on the ground.
“Poeple are finding it difficult to access a GP because of the capacity issue,” Cllr McMonagle told the HSE at Tuesday’s meeting of the Regional Health Forum West.
He reported that GPs are turning away patients, stating that they have reached their quota.
“While we have been doing well to recruit the current number of GPs we have in Donegal, there is obviously a need for more. The population has increased and we have a further increase of 10,000+ refugees, I understand the pressures that has put on services,” Cllr McMonagle said.
“It would be incumbent on us to ensure we are still recruiting,” he said, adding that he feared the current GPs could suffer burn-out.
Cllr McMonagle sought clarity on whether GPs have individual quotas or catchment areas. He was told that a response will be supplied in due course.
The HSE also stated that the number of Doctors accepted into the GP Training Schemes across the country (including Donegal) has increased substantially in the last number of years, with plans for further increase in numbers over the next three years. The training schemes operate over a four year cycle and it is hoped that a number of the newly qualified GPs will be attracted to take up GP posts in Ireland and that the GP training programme will go some way to addressing GP shortages especially in rural areas.
