GPs from across Munster gather to discuss changing patient needs

More than 130 healthcare professionals from across Munster recently came together in Cork to discuss changing patient needs, emerging clinical challenges and the growing pressures facing general practice.

Mater Private Network Cork’s GP Study Day brought together doctors from Cork, Waterford, Limerick and Tipperary with medical specialists for clinical updates and discussion across a range of specialties.

The programme also looked beyond patient care to the wellbeing of doctors themselves, with a keynote session examining burnout in medicine and how GPs can better recognise and manage its cumulative effects.

Opening the event, Sandra Daly, CEO of Mater Private Network, Cork, acknowledged the wide-ranging role GPs play in the lives of patients and families.

“GPs know patients in a way that no hospital ever can. They understand their histories, their families and their circumstances.

“They are there for the early diagnosis, the management of chronic disease, the difficult conversation and the reassurance — and very often they are the person helping patients navigate an increasingly complex healthcare system.” The event provided an opportunity for GPs to exchange ideas, share the challenges they encounter in practice and highlight areas of unmet need for patients.

The pressures facing doctors themselves were also a key focus of the programme.

Dr Michael Keane, Medical Doctor, Registered Psychologist and PhD in Behavioural Neuroscience, delivered the keynote address, “Burnout in Medicine: What Happens When Demands Exceed Resources?” His session explored how burnout can develop gradually as demands increase and resources become stretched, equipping doctors with practical tools to recognise the warning signs, understand what helps regulate them and better protect their own wellbeing in demanding clinical environments.

Concluding her address, Mater Private Cork CEO Sandra Daly said the ongoing dialogue with GPs plays an important role in how services at Mater Private Network Cork develop.

“Our services must continue to evolve because patients’ needs are evolving — and because the needs of GPs are evolving too.

“Many of the improvements we make come directly from conversations with GPs about where there are barriers, where access needs to improve and where there are gaps in specialist services. That feedback genuinely shapes our decisions — from the services we develop and the consultants we recruit to the pathways we improve.”