Action sought as Sligo experiencing ‘critical’ GP shortage – ‘This is not a future problem, it’s happening now’

By Philip Rooney, The Sligo Champion

The shortage of GPs in Co Sligo was raised at the March meeting of Sligo County Council with Cllr Barry Gallagher describing the issue as “critical” saying, “This is not a future problem, this is happening now.”

In his motion Cllr Gallagher called on “Sligo County Council to urgently contact the Minister for Health, the HSE and relevant bodies requesting urgent intervention and a clear timeline for action to address GP shortages in County Sligo.”

Stressing the importance of the issue Cllr Gallagher said, “Sligo communities deserve the same as any urban area. I’m getting 10 calls a week on this.”

Supporting the motion Cllr Edel McSharry highlighted the “Need to look at rural recruitment and retention,” adding, “I am constantly being contacted by members of the public who cannot get a GP.”

Cllr McSharry continued, “There is a need to look at more training places in medicine. Perhaps there could be a training centre in our ATU. GP practices do a wonderful job, they have digital records. We need to look at a more accelerated GP training programme.”

Cllr Marie Casserly also gave her backing to the motion saying, “For years there have not been enough. That’s why there is such a demand, there are not enough spaces on offer for those specialities. Give them the facilities, there are empty colleges throughout the summer.”

Highlighting the seriousness of the situation Cllr Dara Mulvey said, “A Longford woman moved to Sligo for work. She couldn’t get a GP in Sligo and was told to go back to Longford.”

Cllr Ann Higgins also gave her backing to the motion saying, “GPs are people, they will determine where they want to live, where they want to send their children to school. They are going to Australia for a reason.

"If somebody is sick they are sick. To be told to bring a sick child to A&E is a symptom of a broken health service.”

Cllr Michael Clarke also gave his backing to the motion saying, “The support system for rural doctors isn’t there. With five extra district nurses it could free up to 50 beds in Sligo University Hospital. The health business is a very complicated industry.”

Echoing some of the sentiments already expressed Cllr Donal Gilroy said, “It is far from simple to solve. It is well needed, different areas have different problems. It was a 24 hour job, the modern GP doesn’t do that and shouldn’t be asked to do that. They are wonderful people and we should acknowledge that but it takes an awful lot of training to get to that point.”

The debate on the motion concluded with Cllr Gallagher saying, “Our population is aging, we need to look at it straight away.”

Article Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.