GPs should earn 80% of consultants’ pay

The ICGP warns that urgent action on recruitment and retention is needed to tackle the growing shortage of GPs, especially in rural and deprived areas, reports Gary Culliton International evidence on primary care services suggests that to have a strong primary care system, GPs should earn at least 80 per cent of the salaries of their hospital consultant colleagues, an Oireachtas Committee has heard. A recent TCD study found that 76 per cent of all GPs were full-time and worked eight clinical sessions a week, with another three devoted to paperwork. Yet there was evidence that these GPs worked 60…