A GP in Co Clare has said he has had to close his doors to new patients for the first time in 25 years as the situation in general practice is “absolutely impossible”.
Prof Liam Glynn, who operates Ballyvaughan Medical Centre, said the practice has welcomed 350 Ukrainian refugees, which has created “significant capacity problems”.
“I believe that we have the highest number of Ukrainians in any practice in the country at the moment... this is a really very unique experience for everybody,” he said, as he attended the autumn conference of the Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP) in Dublin on Saturday.
“It’s an absolutely terrible position that these people find themselves in, in a different country away from their homes as a result of war, and not speaking the same language.
Housing in Ireland is among the most expensive and most affordable in the EU. How does that happen?
Ceann comhairle election key task as 34th Dáil convenes for first time
Your EV questions answered: Am I better to drive my 13-year-old diesel until it dies than buy a new EV?
Workplace wrangles: Staying on the right side of your HR department, and more labrynthine aspects of employment law
“So we felt we had to respond to that need, and even though it has created significant capacity problems in the practice, we felt we had no choice.
“Thankfully, we have got some support to allow a Ukrainian doctor - a single Ukrainian doctor - to work with us. Unfortunately, she’s not working as a doctor because she hasn’t been able to get registered as a doctor. So again, that’s a real issue and it’s something that we need to fast-track for the Ukrainian doctors who are with us. She essentially works as a medical translator with us.”
Prof Glynn, who is the professor of general practice at the University of Limerick School of Medicine, said his practice has three GPs working part-time as well as a team of practice nurses and administrative staff.
“I’m working there for 25 years. It’s the first time that we have closed our doors to new patients. It’s just absolutely impossible at the moment, and I think this is an indictment of where we are in general practice in the country entirely,” he added.
“There is nothing more heartbreaking than knowing that there’s somebody in your community who’s looking for a GP and you can’t provide a service for them. And that’s something that is universally felt... nobody wants to be in a position to be turning anybody away.”
Prof Glynn said he was a strong advocate for the preservation of small practices in rural communities, and that it was “absolutely cost-effective and delivers high-quality care”.
However, he acknowledged the demands on GPs and his own staff are “very challenging”.
“It’s just a really, really challenging environment to work in, trying to meet the needs of our own population because we’re a rural practice, our patients are spread over 600 square kilometres already,” he said.
“We still spend time doing house calls and then, in on top of that, we obviously have this unique community of Ukrainian refugees with very specific needs and lots of morbidity in particular in terms of mental health issues that need to be dealt with.”
Also present at the ICGP conference were five Ukrainian GPs, two of whom are working in the Irish healthcare system.
Dr Dmytro Kekukh arrived in Ireland in March and is working as a healthcare assistant at a nursing home in Dublin, while Dr Daryna Pobieriei is a translator for the HSE in Co Wexford.
They and their peers said they had applied to the Medical Council to work as doctors in Ireland, but described it as a “very long process”; they would have to pass a language exam, a theoretical exam and an Irish practical exam.
“It could take two or three years to finish all the procedures,” said Dr Kekukh.
Dr Svetlana Busari said “we want to be useful for Irish society. Right now we don’t have the opportunity to work as a doctor and we don’t even know when this process will be completed and we can work,” she said.
