No GP for Glanmire teenager as service creaks under pressure

Mother says it is 'a disgrace' she has to rely on out-of-hours GP services to treat her daughter

Sinn Féin TD Thomas Gould: 'What we’re saying is the HSE must provide GP care for people, and if they can’t provide it for everyone, certainly every child in the State should be entitled to access to a GP.' Picture: Chani Anderson

A mother in Cork who cannot find a GP for her teenage daughter said the situation was a "an absolute disgrace", and young patients should not be left without medical support.

Megan Gahan attends a GP in Glanmire but this practice is so busy it is unable to accept more private patients — including her 14-year-old daughter. She has contacted practices across the city's northside to no avail.

“I’ve tried Glanmire, I’ve tried Blackpool and I’ve tried Mayfield as well,” she said. “I’ve rang them all but just can’t get her in.” 

When her daughter recently needed an MRI scan after a camogie injury, she attended a walk-in clinic at Doctor 365 instead for the referral letter.

“I rang HSE and I rang Citizen's Advice, and basically what is being said is because she is not a medical card holder they can’t help,” she said.

“They said if she was a medical card holder, I could get her in somewhere. 

So because I work and my husband works and we’re paying up to our eyeballs in taxes, they wouldn’t give us a medical card for her or any of my kids.” 

She is also relying on the emergency SouthDoc service. 

“At this present time, if my daughter is sick, I have to wait until 6pm and go to SouthDoc, so I’m telling her ‘don’t be sick before 6 because we can’t get you seen’,” she said.

“I can bring her to Doctor 365 and I can bring her to SouthDoc but it’s not sustainable. You go out there, there’s always different doctors on. She is 14, she needs to build a relationship with her doctor.” 

She added: “It’s a disgrace really to be honest, it’s an absolute disgrace that she doesn’t have a GP.” 

The issue came to light following the camogie injury when Ms Gahan realised her daughter was no longer listed with a GP in another suburb where they previously lived.

She described her GP in Glanmire as “fantastic”, saying they look after her and their younger children extremely well.

Sinn Féin TD Thomas Gould has tried to assist, but was also told by the HSE it has no pathway for placing private patients with GPs.

“What we’re saying is the HSE must provide GP care for people, and if they can’t provide it for everyone, certainly every child in the State should be entitled to access to a GP,” he said.

It’s vital that every child would have a GP that would know their medical history and build a bond with them. It’s really hard now for this mother.” 

He has similar stories from patients in Blarney, Mayfield, Farranree and other areas, he said.

“There were supposed to be three primary care centres in this area, one for Blarney, one for Glanmire and one for Mayfield,” he said.

“If these had been delivered, it might have eased the pressures.” 

The National Association of GP Co-ops recently wrote to the HSE warning 10% of the population does not have a GP, with that cohort relying on out-of-hours GP services instead. They said these services cannot provide follow-up or on-going care for patients. 

The Department of Health this week announced an extra 215,000 people are now eligible for free GP visit cards.