Irish College of GPs publishes “Strengthening the Future of General Practice”, a set of 5 priorities to ensure General Practice is at the frontline of Irish healthcare.
- More complex care, an ever-expanding workload and an ageing population needs a strong, supported and evolving general practice specialty.
- Urgent need for a shared eHealth record for everyone, to ensure continuity and integrated care for every patient.
- National GP Workforce Strategy required to attract, support, and retain future GPs.
The Irish College of GPs is the professional body for general practice in Ireland. The College is the representative organisation for education, training, and standards in general practice, with 4,500 members and associates comprising over 85% of practising GPs in the Republic of Ireland, and 1130 GPs in training.
“Strengthening the Future of GP Care in Ireland” is an 11- page set of priorities, an update of the “Shaping the Future” (2022) document, revisiting progress made on the points in that important statement on the actions required to support the future of strong general practice. The context is the Slaintecare policy to shift care to the community and away from hospitals.
The College sets out 5 priorities to strengthen the future of general practice, against the background of a growing and ageing population, delivering more complex care, and addressing the expectations of the next GP generation.
The priorities are:
- Connected Care – build shared eHealth records to ensure continuity, safety, and integrated care for every patient;
- A Workforce for the Future – grow and support the GP workforce to meet rising demand and deliver care where patients need it most;
- Quality at the Core – embed high value audit, research, and quality improvement (QI) activity in daily general practice;
- GP as a First Choice – make general practice an attractive, supported career path from medical school to retirement;
- Smarter with Data – harness health data to highlight pressure points in care delivery, guide resource planning and improve outcomes.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Irish College of GPs, Fintan Foy, said: “This is a fresh analysis of the challenges facing general practice in Ireland, at a time of expansion and significant change in population, care delivery and the role of GPs. General practice is the cornerstone of Irish healthcare delivery. With these priorities, we have identified the supports that general practice needs to deliver integrated community care, digital health and develop its workforce.”
The Medical Director of the Irish College of GPs, Dr Diarmuid Quinlan, said: "GPs are the first and ongoing point of care for millions of people across Ireland. Every day, over 88,000 GP consultations take place in general practice- each one carefully recorded within secure practice computer systems. These thousands of daily interactions form the backbone of healthcare delivery in Ireland, supporting continuity of care and safe clinical decision-making. This set of priorities shows what we believe is needed to grow and strengthen the high-quality services that GP teams can deliver".
He added, “We acknowledge that access to GPs is not equal, with fewer GPs per head of population in rural Ireland and urban deprived areas. Our workforce is under intense and growing strain due to the high increase in demand. We need to expand and sustain the GP workforce, not only by increasing training places, but also by addressing retention, working conditions, and career flexibility.”
The Chair of the Board of the Irish College of GPs, Dr Deirdre Collins, said: “The College is committed to playing a leadership role in national workforce planning and policy design, ensuring general practice remains a viable, valued, and vibrant career. We need a national strategy to attract, support, and retain future GPs. This should include increasing medical school exposure to general practice, and supporting diverse, flexible, and equitable career pathways.”
The full version of the document, “Strengthening the Future of GP Care in Ireland” can be accessed here.
Issued by: Aileen O’Meara, Communications Consultant, Irish College of GPs.
Tel. 01 2542984 / 087 2239830. Email: media@icgp.ie