GP screening: Poorer patients ‘fall through cracks’

Doctors working in disadvantaged areas claim they don’t have the time to screen patients because their physical, mental health and social problems are “ so overwhelming”.

Dr Edel McGinnity, a GP in Blanchardstown, Dublin said the immediate needs of patients acted as “serious barriers” to chronic disease management and cancer screening.

Dr McGinnity, a member of Deep End Ireland that represents GPs working in disadvantaged areas, told yesterday’s meeting of the Oireachtas Committee on the Future of Healthcare about a woman who needed a smear test.