According to a study conducted by the Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP), only two Irish counties have sufficient general practitioner numbers to maintain the level of care categorised as adequate by the World Health Organisation. The ideal ratio, as set by the WHO, is 100 GPs per 100,000 populace. The recent figures indicate that extensive sections of the nation, already dealing with scarcity, are witnessing a substantial drop in GP coverage.
Data compiled from the Central Statistics Office and the newly released figures by the Irish Medical Council illustrates that the population rate grew five times faster than the increase in GP numbers between 2022 and 2023.
Co Meath and Monaghan held the last positions with 118 GPs (54 per 100,000 people) and 57 per 100,000 respectively. Though the WHO suggests a ratio of 100 per 100,000, doctors’ organisations suggested to an Oireachtas committee in the previous year that this figure should range between 102 and 110. Only Galway and Waterford reached this level with 102 in the year 2023, according to ICGP.
This scenario partially emerges from the inclination of newly certified GPs to settle in cities. In contrast, the statistics for Cork and Dublin stand at 98 and 91 respectively. ICGP also indicates a probable higher demand in countryside locations due to the larger elderly population.
In 2022 and 2023, most counties saw only a slight increase in GP numbers with Monaghan showing the highest proportional improvement of 15.6%. Despite this growth, their meagre starting point of 32 GPs for a nearly 70,000-strong population, positioned them with the country’s lowest level of GP coverage.
In the same duration, 10 counties experienced a drop in GP numbers. Sligo, for example, lost about a tenth of its 75 GPs and saw the figure decrease to 68 within a year.
In all, the Irish Medical Council reported a 0.6% rise in GP numbers, whereas the CSO preliminary census data highlighted an approximated 3.0% population increase for 2022 and 2023, according to the ICGP.