Limerick GPs ‘not putting patients first’

JUNIOR Health Minister Tim O’Malley yesterday accused GPs in Limerick city of not putting their patients first.

Mr O’Malley said the refusal of the doctors in the city to enter the Shannondoc scheme was causing problems for their patients in getting out-of-hours access to a GP. Shannondoc is a rotation scheme which consists of more than 100 family doctors in Limerick, Clare and North Tipperary. With the help of State funding, it provides full night and weekend cover.

Minister O’Malley said: “The doctors in Limerick city have come up with an ad hoc arrangement whereby you could have one doctor filling in for ten others in the city. One doctor cannot provide the necessary cover for that number of practitioners.

Patients get fed up and go straight to the Regional Hospital A&E.”

He said this means a large number of city patients unnecessarily going to A&E.

Mr O’Malley said: “I don’t think the doctors are putting the patients first.”

It has been estimated 60% of people going to the A&E could be seen by their family doctor.

Mr O’Malley said he was now renewing his appeal to Limerick city doctors to join the Shannondoc system.

He said funding was available in 2005 to enable the city doctors to join.

Mr O’Malley said: “This money will dry up and go back into central funds if it is not used and that is my concern.”

Dr Mary Gray, IMO Limerick spokesperson, said they are currently in talks with Shannondoc.

But she denied their current on-call rota system was not working in the city.

She said there are about 60 GPs in Limerick city and they have formed teams of between nine and 12 to provide an out-of-hours rota.

She said: “There is always a GP at the end of a phone at night, weekends and over holiday periods. It is more than sufficient.

“The last time we had a difficulty was eight years ago when there was a flu epidemic at Christmas and we then put two doctors on each rota.”