Rural Ireland Thinks: Half of those surveyed had two-day wait to see GP

Despite their concerns over the public health service, 24% of respondents have cancelled or reduced their private health insurance because it is too expensive. Picture: iStock

More than half of people living in rural Ireland have had to wait two days or more to get a GP appointment, despite pledges to increase doctor numbers.

An Ipsos/B&A poll of people living in rural Ireland, on behalf of the Irish Examiner, also found more than a quarter of respondents do not feel they have access to an emergency department where they live as pressures grow from overcrowding.

Despite their concerns over health services, 24% of respondents said they have had to cancel or reduce their private health insurance because it is too expensive.

The 54% of people who reported a delay of two days or more in getting a GP appointment is the same percentage as in the last Irish Examiner Rural Ireland Thinks survey in 2024, showing pledges to increase doctor numbers have not made a difference.

In Munster, the percentage was 53%, but in areas of Leinster outside Dublin, 67% had waited that long.

Worryingly, the delays also affect older people, with 45% of those aged over 65 nationwide waiting for an appointment. Only 26% of people said they had not had to wait at all.

Responding to the findings, Irish Medical Organisation GP committee chairman Tadhg Crowley called on the Government to examine how to encourage new GPs to move to rural areas.

Dr Crowley said doctors in rural areas need dedicated supports.

“It is great we are increasing the number of GP trainees but we need to make sure it is targeted,” he said. 

31% do not have full faith in local A&E

Hospital services are also a cause of concern to many in rural areas. Some 31% said they do not have “full faith” in their local emergency department.

Concerns about long delays led to only 72% of adults saying they feel they have access to an ED locally, down from 82% in 2024.

Other health questions in the survey focused on new plans for workplace leave for women after early pregnancy loss. Some 94% of people agreed with this being offered after a miscarriage, while 81% supported it being offered after a termination.

The latter group included 82% of people aged 25 to 34 but only 54% of people aged over 65.

Views on abortion also differed by age. While overall only 27% of rural adults are opposed to terminations, this rose to 44% among over 65s.

National Women’s Council executive director Corrinne Hasson said: “For too long, women and girls in these situations carried their stories and their pain in silence. That day is hopefully gone.”

Assisted dying and euthanasia

The majority of people, 58%, would support the Government bringing in assisted dying and euthanasia, echoing the 2024 findings.

However the latest figures show slightly fewer people marked ‘strongly agree’ and slightly more people marked ‘somewhat agree’ now.

Euthanasia is when someone usually a medical worker deliberately ends a person's life to relieve suffering.

Assisted dying in an Irish context is when a terminally ill but mentally competent adult chooses to take prescribed medication which will end their life under legal safeguards.

The survey shows people aged over 65 are less likely to be supportive of such laws.

Among those who consider themselves to be religious, three in four disagree with such proposals.

• Niamh Griffin, Health Correspondent 

• This report was funded by the News Reporting Scheme