Sir, - The paper on the future development of General Practice in Ireland as reported by Dr Muiris Houston (The Irish Times, June 26th,is to be welcomed.
It is widely known in the profession that the current organisation and structure of Irish general practice does not and cannot meet the many needs of patients at primary care level.
General practitioners must be enabled to progress from our currently restricted role of providing only immediate care and the monitoring of chronic disease to the additional provision of preventive and anticipatory care. This addition to our workload must be appropriately resourced. The chief executive officers' paper is careful to be vague on this issue as the medical organisations will be as proactive on behalf of their members as they have traditionally been.
The concern that some members of the profession have expressed about audit should be answered by an enabling and non-threatening practical approach to the matter. - Yours, etc.,
Declan Bonar, Medical Centre, Dungloe, Co Donegal.