We are not to blame for crisis, say consultants and GPs

THE country’s GPs and doctors have said that they aren’t to blame for the A&E crisis, repeating their view that more acute hospitals beds are needed if trolley figures are to drop.

Speaking on RTÉ television after the screening of a Prime Time documentary, Tánaiste and Health Minister Mary Harney, and Health Service Executive (HSE) chief executive Professor Brendan Drumm, both repeated their assertion that hospital reform and staffing reform, not acute beds, were the key to ending the numbers at A&Es.

IMO GP Committee chairman Dr Martin Daly said: “We’ve repeatedly called for funding to be made to the Primary Care Strategy. But it is not fair to say that GPs hold the answer to A&E services as many people need specialist care.”