GP training key to primary care roll out – Oireachtas report

An immediate expansion of GP training places to a minimum of 150 is needed if the target of having 542 primary care teams (PCT) operating by the end of 2011 is to be reached, according to a new report.
Published this week (February 10) by the Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children, the report on Primary Medical Care in the Community analyses the progress of the implementation of the Primary Care Strategy since its inception in 2001.

The Primary Care Strategy identified local community health facilities which feature multi-disciplinary teams of healthcare professionals working together as the most appropriate setting to meet up to 95 per cent of patients’ needs.
While some progress has been made in achieving this target, the Committee believes that because primary care is such a fundamental element to the reform of healthcare policy, there needs to be ‘added impetus and drive’ to further the effective roll out of primary care services throughout the country.
Key among the report’s recommendations is the urgent need to expand GP training places from the current level of 120 to at least 150. A failure to do this would most likely ‘increase waiting lists’ and put a ‘greater burden’ on hospital emergency departments.
The report, which is available at www.oireachtas.ie, also proposes expanding the role of nurses and pharmacists within the PCT. There was also a need to transfer resources from the hospital to the community setting, meaning that the resources would ‘follow the patient’.
While the Oireahtas Committee was against ‘corporatisation’ in the development of new primary care infrastructure, it believed a system of incentives should be provided for their construction.
The IMO welcomed this strong opposition to the threatened corporatisation of primary care, and praised the Committee’s recognition of the need to introduce financial incentives to facilitate the investment required by GPs and others to establish primary care centres.
Dr Martin Daly, IMO GP Committee member, said: “Enormous work was required if the goal of a nationwide network of primary care centres was to be realised. Primary care centres are not a panacea but can play a significant role in the modernisation and improvement of our health services.
“This report, however acknowledges the scale of the challenge facing policy makers if they wish to see progress in this area,” added Dr Daly.
Committee Chairman Sean O’Fearghail TD commented: “There must be more emphasis placed on the physical structure of primary care teams. Our investigation has shown us that while it is valuable to have doctors, nurses and social workers all committed to working together they need to be in one single location.”
Responding to the findings, the HSE confirmed that it is in the process of increasing significantly the number of places available for postgraduate training in general practice, from the current figure of 120 a year to a potential 160 posts commencing in July 2010.
This was being done in consultation with the Irish College of General Practitioners, the HSE added.