Irish College of GPs makes historic move to new premises

The Irish College of GPs has moved offices to a larger premises after more than 30 years at Lincoln Place in Dublin 2.

College CEO Mr Fintan Foy told the Medical Independent that it closed its doors at Lincoln Place for the last time on 10 April.

“We’re moving into Hogan Place, which is very close to us in Dublin 2,” Mr Foy said.

Staff worked from home for a time before officially moving into the new premises on 28 April.

“It’s twice the size of Lincoln Place. It will enable us to do other things we need to as a membership and educational body. A lot of activities that we would have had to run in hotels we’ll now be able to have in Hogan Place,” Mr Foy explained.

There are currently 180 clinical and non-clinical staff at the College, which has around 4,700 members. Staff numbers have tripled since the transfer of GP training from the HSE to the College, Mr Foy outlined.

“The staff has grown a lot since the transfer of training. We would have had 62 staff in 2017, so there has been a very significant increase in staffing, mostly around the move of GP training to the College,” he said.

“Lincoln Place is no longer big enough…. It was either invest significant sums [there] or move to a new building.

“What we want is a place that is welcoming to members. I was always amazed at how few people visited us in Lincoln Place, but it’s a very small building. We have no space for people. Whereas in Hogan Place we will have a dedicated members area and we would hope that different groups will use it for different purposes, like CME and training and a lot of our educational activity.

“Our Council meetings that would have been held in hotels when they were face to face will all move into the new building.”

Mr Foy said it was an “exciting” move for staff and members, who have been kept informed during the process. “It’s probably ongoing for nearly a year at this stage. Overall, the reaction has been really positive.”