Doctor warns on closure of rural GP practices

People will have to travel further and wait longer for an appointment with a GP in rural areas, as more practices are abandoned, a doctors’ group has warned.

This month there were 24 unfilled practices around the country and research suggests Ireland could lose up to a third of its GPs by 2020.

National Association of General Practitioners president Conor McGee, who is based in Scariff, Co Clare, said GP waiting lists were unheard of three or four years ago.