Ireland 'facing shortage of GPs'

The Competition Authority says Ireland is facing a serious shortage of General Practitioners, and is calling for reform in the system.

A report on the GP industry, published today is highlighting a bottleneck at training level, and calls for the training process to be accelerated, to bring more doctors onstream more quickly.

It also pointed out that the cost of visiting a GP has risen much faster than inflation.

Authority spokesperson Carol Boate said: "Even when you adjust for things like somebody who has a chronic illness, or age or all of the different factors that might make you more likely to go to the doctor, when you adjust for all of those, people who don't have any medical card or cover are definitely going to the doctor less and putting off going to the doctor and obviously that has implications for their long-term health."