GP services 'at breaking point'

Cutbacks to GP services could result in closures of over 120 practices across the country, it was claimed today.

A nationwide campaign by GPs alerting the public to what they say is "a service at breaking point" is being launched today.

Dr Andy Jordan, chairman of the Association of General Practitioners, said that €160m has been wiped from the service in just three years.

"It's a total dichotomy," he said. "There's no point in talking about moving work out of hospital services, putting it into general practice, and then slashing the funding to those practices to make them now more worried about their existence, rather than embracing new work."