GP posts ignored ‘because of costs’

HEALTH Boards have failed to fill 27 GP posts around the country because graduates cannot make a living out of the present medical card system, the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) claimed yesterday.

These posts have been vacant for some time because young graduates cannot afford to take them up, IMO GP leader Dr James Reilly said.

“One of the posts even has a large list of 1,200 GMS patients and young graduates cannot take it up because of the huge costs of setting up a practice in the centre of Dublin,” he said.