Just two counties in Ireland have enough general practitioners to provide what the World Health Organisation deems a satisfactory level of care, according to new research by the Irish College of GPs.
The WHO recommended ratio is 100 general practitioners per 100,000 of population, however new figures suggest large parts of the country that were already experiencing shortages are now suffering declining levels of coverage.
The organisation says a combination of CSO and recently published Irish Medical Council data suggests the overall population grew at five times the rate that GP numbers expanded between 2022 and 2023.
Co Meath had the lowest level of all with a total of 118 GPs, equating to 54 per 100,000 people followed by Monaghan with 57 per 100,000.
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While the number required to provide satisfactory levels of care is put at 100 per 100,000 by the WHO, doctors’ representative organisations told an Oireachtas committee last year the figure here should be between 102 and 110. The 100 level was achieved by just Galway and Waterford in 2023 when both had 102, the ICGP says.
This is in part result of a general trend for new GPs to gravitate towards urban areas. The corresponding figures for Cork and Dublin are 98 and 91 respectively. The ICGP says the growth in demand for GP services would be expected to be greater in rural areas due to the generally larger proportion of older people.
The majority of counties experienced fractional increases in GP numbers between 2022 and 2023 with Monaghan actually faring best across the country in proportional terms, with a 15.6 per cent improvement.
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However, the county’s starting point of just 32 doctors in general practice for its population of almost 70,000 meant it had the country’s lowest level of coverage at that point.
Ten counties experienced declines in GP numbers over the course of the year, some of them very marginal, although Sligo lost almost one-tenth of its 75 with the figure slipping to 68 in the course of 12 months.
Overall, the increase in numbers recorded by the Irish Medical Council amounted to 0.6 per cent while the college said CSO preliminary census data for 2022 and estimates for 2023 suggested a 3.0 per cent growth in the general population.
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