Lack of locum cover is worrying, say Cork GPs

CORK city GPs have described the lack of locum cover for doctors as “worrying”.

It comes after The Echo reported that doctors are being forced to cancel holiday plans hours before their flights as the locum GP shortage reaches crisis levels.

A spokesperson for the HSE said are working ‘closely’ with the Irish College of General Practitioners to expand the GP workforce.

However, Blackpool GP and Fianna Fáil councillor John Sheehan said the situation is worrying when taking into accounting the number of GPs preparing to retire.

“A third of GPs in Ireland are over 60 so there is a huge wave who are due to retire in the next few years”, Dr Sheehan said. “The difficulty is our population is increasing. We have the highest life expectancy in Europe. These are all really positive things but at the same time we need primary care to reflect this.

“In the last 20 years, the number of consultants has doubled while the number of GPs has stayed the same so this is a reflection of the numbers that we need. 

"There is a lot that needs to be done to try and get help with this shortage both at a HSE level, a Department of Health level as well as in training and how we work. There are solutions but they do require significant changes to be made.”

GP partner with MyCorkGP in Cork city Dr Nick Flynn said that he would be unable to operate a small practice due to the difficulties sourcing locum GPs.

“My own practice is a large group practice where we have 10 doctors at any one time, sometimes 12 or 13,” he said.

“We tend to cross-cover each other. I wouldn’t do a single-handed practice or a small group practice. 

"I wouldn’t enter that range anymore because I know that you if you get sick or your colleague is sick or you take holidays when a colleague takes holidays there is basically no chance of getting a locum.”

Dr Flynn pointed out the financial implications for GPs. “Fees are very expensive and GPs who run small practices have to be financially viable. When they do find them it’s difficult to afford them on the current terms.”