SouthDoc records revenue of €17m after dealing with 200,000 patient contacts 

Company provides out-of-hours GP services in Cork and Kerry

SouthDoc, the company which provides out-of-hours medical care in the Cork and Kerry region, reported revenues of €17m in 2024. Picture: Eddie O'Hare

The company which provides out-of-hours medical care in the Cork and Kerry region reported revenues of €17m in 2024. 

SouthDoc provides a non-urgent GP service to a population of approximately 736,000 in Cork and Kerry. It dealt with over 200,000 patient contacts during 2024.

The company SouthDoc Doctors On Call recorded a profit for the year of €84,911, down from €279,004 in 2023, according to its financial report.

SouthDoc opens from 6pm to 8am from Monday to Friday and across weekends and public holidays. The service is by phone appointment and is free for medical card and GP card holders.  It is predominantly dependent on annual funding from the HSE.  Company revenues in 2024 stood at €17.493m, from €17.986m the year previous. The group had retained earnings of €1.191m.

In 2024, SouthDoc had an average of 188 employees, 10 fewer than in 2023. The company spent €8.205m on wages and salaries.

In its report, the company said there were no significant events affecting the group since the financial year end, and the group has no plans to change the activities of the group in the near future. 

The financial statement noted that the service relies on funding received from the HSE which is renewable annually, and that this creates an "uncertainty" over the future of the group, but the HSE "have not given any indication that it will withdraw its financial support from the group for the forseeable future".

The SouthDoc service has been 'streamlined' in recent years, with more centralised services and locum cover, as the company was challenged by a shortage of GPs, particularly in rural areas. 

HSE South West said in June that 90% of patients who used the SouthDoc service were seen within four hours and the average call wait during peak hours at that time was 7.18 minutes.

Cover provided by SouthDoc in Cork city is provided at Kinsale Road Treatment Centre, or via a home visit. 

Last June, in response to a question by Cork North Central Fine Gael TD Colm Burke, the HSE said the Blackpool Treatment Centre remains operational for appointments "where there is a clearly established clinical need. Since September 2023, however, routine appointments have been scheduled at the primary treatment centre on Kinsale Road."

Sinn Féin Cork North Central TD Thomas Gould referred to the Blackpool SouthDoc as a "ghost service".