Sherlock to introduce bill to ensure fair access to GP care across the State.

• Marie Sherlock TD to introduce Health (Availability of General Practitioner Services) Bill 2025 today, Thursday 3^rd of July.
• The availability of GP care across communities cannot be left to chance. Some rural and disadvantaged communities have too few GPs with delayed access to timely GP care.
• Lack of timely GP care  is resulting in delayed diagnosis, poorer health outcomes, and increasing upward pressure on the hospital system.
• While GP care is largely a privately provided service, our bill gives responsibility to the HSE to ensuring fair and equitable access to GMS care across communities.
• Recent ERSI research states we will need 943 to 1,211 GPs by 2040 to cope with growing and ageing population.

 

Marie Sherlock TD, Labour Spokesperson on Health, will today introduce the Health (Availability of General Practitioner Services) Bill 2025. Speaking in advance of introducing the bill, Deputy Sherlock said:

“We know that access to a GP is not equal across the country.

We have mapped out GP to population ratio for most of the country relying on 2025 data provided to us by the HSE and have found extraordinary variation. For instance, there is one GP per 1390 of population in Clontarf in Dublin 3, yet in Cabra in Dublin 7, the ratio is one to 3060 of population.  Similarly, the ratio is one GP for 5089 of population in East Meath and one to 1739 of population in South Louth.

Lower GP to population ratios has a very real impact for patients in terms of the time it takes for them to get an appointment and in getting timely access to care.

Even more seriously, we know that GP’s serving the most disadvantaged communities in Ireland encounter higher health needs among their patients. Yet shockingly, we have a lower ratio of GPs in deprived communities compared to more affluent areas.

Government must grapple with the twin challenges of significant population growth in certain areas and the reality that disadvantaged communities have higher care needs and fewer GPs to provide that care.

A number of critical changes need to happen.

The HSE must step in and take responsibility for ensuring that GP services are distributed fairly across all parts of the country. To date, the location of GP services has been left to chance. That has to change and my bill provides for the HSE to plan for a fair and equitable spread of primary care services.

We believe that the provisions in our bill must be complemented by the Minister undertaking significant changes to the GMS scheme. To date, GPs are paid according to a crude measure of just the sex and age of their patient list. No account is taken of the complexity of care need of patients, social deprivation or other factors. The reality is that for a GP  practice like Summerhill GP Care for All in the heart of Dublin 1, the average age of death is just short of 60 because of the high levels of complex care needs whereas in more comfortable areas, it is well  above 80. This tells us much about the massive inequalities in healthcare across communities.

Delayed access to GP care can mean delayed diagnosis and poorer health outcomes. And as the Lancet noted, the inaccessible of Ireland’s primary care system is placing tremendous strain on our hospitals.

Recent ERSI research painted a clear picture of what we need to do to plan for services up to 2040, including the provision of up to an additional 1,200 GPs. I am glad to be introducing this essential Bill, which at the heart of it, would ensure that the HSE plans for fairer and more accessible primary care services.”