‘Crisis has been looming for 20 years’ -Dr O’Hare

MORE local GP practices could be among 50 across the North that are at serious risk of closure.

Earlier this week, issuing a stark and sobering warning, the British Medical Association revealed that 16 practices across the North declined contracts with Department of Health (DoH) in the past year, and that 30 more are ‘in crisis’.

Moreover, speaking to this newspaper, a retired Fermanagh GP has said that, while the current crisis confronting rural practices is worrying, it has not come as a surprise to the medical community.

Dr Brendan O’Hare, who was a senior partner with Western Rural Healthcare before retiring in 2021, said that a ‘crisis has been looming for 20 years’.

“For the last 20 years, we have been sounding the alarm bells,” said Dr O’Hare, “but now we are really seeing the realisation of what we are feared. Practices cannot get the GPs they need.”

Dr O’Hare said that going back as far as a few decades, the demographics showed a mass retirement was imminent, and that new doctors would be needed to replace those finishing their working lives.

“We knew the shortage was coming, there was never enough done to offset it,” said Dr O’Hare.

“It is a widespread problem. Just before I stepped away from Western Rural Healthcare in 2021, we had 11 GPs, now there are only six.

“It is hard for some of the bigger practices in the North to retain and attract staff at the moment, so it is almost impossible for smaller, more rural practices to do so.

“It is sad to say, but the reality is that very few young GPs want to come and work in small practices where they are one of only a couple of GPs there,” said Dr O’Hare.

However, though the picture appears bleak at the moment, with few viable short-term options open to address the crisis, Dr O’Hare believes that there are measures in place that are likely to reinstate stability in the long term.

“A few years ago, the number of training places here [the North] was increased from 65 to 111, which will make a big difference in the years to come,” he continued.

“As well as that, the new medical school in Derry has a strong set-up for training up people to work in general practice, and this will have a positive impact on the state of our local primary health care down the line.”