Fears of GP staff shortages in Kerry as doctors who provide vital winter cover stranded in South Africa

The majority of GPs providing locum cover in rural Kerry over the festive period are from South Africa. However, new visa requirements imposed because of the Omicron variant are putting added pressure on GP services in Kerry as doctors who were due to travel here are stranded in South Africa. 

Urgent discussions are taking place between an out-of-hours GP service and the Department of Justice over new restrictions which mean South African GPs who provide vital cover during the winter in Cork and Kerry cannot take up their usual locum work there.

The majority of GPs providing locum cover in rural Kerry over the festive period are from South Africa. However, new visa requirements imposed because of the Omicron variant are putting added pressure on GP services in Kerry as doctors who were due to travel here are stranded in South Africa. 

A South African GP, who is considered a stalwart of the out-of-hours service in west Kerry, Dr Pieter Botha, was due to arrive this week before beginning work in Tralee and west Kerry for three months. He said unless the new visa requirement is lifted it may be impossible for him to take up his regular winter work.

Dr Botha has provided locum cover for the past 15 years in Tralee and west Kerry. Speaking from South Africa, he explained he was prevented from travelling from Johannesburg last Friday because of blanket travel restrictions. 

Dr Botha has managed to make alternative travel arrangements to fly to Ireland next week, but new visa requirements introduced by the Department of Justice are a huge obstacle.

“This [visa] application could take up to two months. I was due to work until March,” he said.

SouthDoc, the out-of-hours service for Cork and Kerry, is in discussions with the Department of Justice, its medical director Dr Gary Stack said.

Some 70% of locums in the SouthDoc area, which includes a number of remote peninsulas, are South African, Dr Stack, a Killarney GP, said.

“This additional requirement has only come in the past few days. We are in discussions and hope there will be an understanding of our situation, ” Dr Stack said.

The Killarney area is undergoing its biggest ever spike in Covid-19 cases, with huge numbers of positive cases, and all medical practices under pressure.

“We have never had more people testing positive,” Dr Stack.

Before the spread of the Omicron variant and resultant restrictions, citizens of South Africa who were spending up to 90 days here did not need a visa.

Crisis situation

The west Kerry peninsula will be among the worst affected by the shortage of GP cover, with a GP in Dingle warning of a crisis situation.

Dr Peadar O’Fionnáin said cover has already been difficult to secure over the past number of months and the Christmas period is one of the busiest times of the year in west Kerry.

“Dingle is one of the bellwether spots whose out-of-hours medical services fall apart first when there is a lack of locums, and we have been frequently without back-up over the past few months, Dr O'Fionnáin said.

They have been trying to keep the service operating out of hours when locum doctors have been unavailable, he said.

“Local doctors are falling in as much as we can, though this is frequently unsafe, and calls are also being routed to Tralee, which is a long way from Dunquin. Tralee has also been without on-call doctors overnight in recent months,” he said.

On Wednesday night, the Department of Justice said it was in talks with the Department of Health. In a statement, the Department of Justice said it had followed health regulations in imposing the new restrictions. 

"The department must process visas in accordance with the public health regulations, which are a matter for the Department of Health. The department is in ongoing discussions with the Department of Health on this matter, in order to find an appropriate resolution.