*Photograph: John Mangan
HSE OFFICIALS have said they are ‘actively working’ on plans to secure a permanent GP for the village of Newmarket-on-Fergus while a Clare TD has criticised the imbalance of GP cover in the county.
A part-time GP service has been provided from Carrigoran House since June 2020, Saffron and Blue Medical Centre received a contract from the HSE to provide a GP service from the location. In May 2019, Dr Colum Hackett retired as GP in the village after forty two years working as a GP in Newmarket-on-Fergus.
Clare TD, Joe Cooney (FG) has urged the HSE to redress the imbalance of GP cover in Clare, Limerick, and North Tipperary compared to surrounding regions.
New figures from the HSE show there are 258 GPs catering to a population of 385,712 in Clare, Limerick, and North Tipperary, which represents one GP per 1,493 people. GP cover in the region is lower than in Galway/Roscommon/Mayo and Kerry/Cork, which have one GP per 1,387 people and 1,382 people, respectively.
Nationally, there are 3,160 GPs with a public contract, in addition to other GPs, including those who work privately, GPs in training, and International Medical Graduate (IMG) participants.
Newmarket-on-Fergus which is Clare’s fifth largest population centre has had a part-time GP service for the last five years. Deputy Cooney said he has engaged with HSE Mid-West in recent days to secure a permanent GP service in Newmarket-on-Fergus.
HSE Mid-West confirmed it is actively working on plans to secure permanent GP accommodation in the locality. In the meantime, Dr. Colum Gavin of Saffron & Blue Medical is continuing to provide a GP service to patients on Monday mornings and all day on Thursdays from its current location at Carrigoran House. Outside of these times, patients from the Newmarket-on-Fergus area can be seen at Saffron & Blue Medical Centre at Clareabbey, Clarecastle.
Following representations from the local community in Kildysart, Deputy Cooney said he will also be raising the ongoing part-time locum doctor service being provided by Saffron & Blue Medical Centre in the village, with a view to having a full-time service restored.
“The figures provided by HSE Mid-West show a clear imbalance between the Mid-West and surrounding regions in terms of permanent GP accommodation,” he explained. “Having received the data to back this up, I will now ask the Minister for Health to increase pressure on the HSE to expedite investment in GP cover across Clare, Limerick, and North Tipperary”.
“In my engagement with the HSE, I was informed that the HSE is working closely with the Irish College of General Practitioners on a range of measures to expand the GP workforce. While I acknowledge that GP training places nationally have increased from an intake of 259 in 2022 to 350 in 2024, it is clear that the Mid-West is not benefiting in the same way as other parts of the country from the corresponding rise in newly qualified GPs.
“The situation in Newmarket-on-Fergus is a case in point, as the town has been without a permanent GP presence since the retirement of Dr. Colum Hackett in May 2019. Likewise, the local community in Kildysart have contacted me with a view to securing a full-term service. The Strategic Review of General Practice, which is currently being led by the Department of Health, must be expedited so the arrangements necessary to improve access to GP care in larger population centres can be identified and action taken to redress the imbalance,” Cooney added.
