Wednesday 14 September 2022.  The Chairman of the GP Committee of the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) has expressed disappointment but not surprise at the manner in which payments to general practice are published.

 

Dr Denis McCauley, Chair of the GP Committee said “As usual the fees paid to GPs are published without any context and are misleading.  From these fees GPs not only provided all GP care to almost 2.1 million medical card/doctor visit card patients but also, during this most challenging of times, GPs and their teams administered the COVID vaccine programme and managed the COVID advice and testing pathway for all patients.”

 

In order to run a practice individual GPs must provide and pay for premises, all practice equipment, all IT systems and staff the practice with medical, nursing and administrative teams.  Dr McCauley said “ These fees represent a significant increase in the workload within general practice during COVID when all GPs and their teams managed significantly increased workload.  The costs associated with running a modern, appropriately staffed GP practice are substantial ”.

 

Dr. McCauley also stated that there are significant concerns that despite a growing population there are not enough GPs to meet demand.