Out-of-hours GP service North East Doctor on Call (NEDOC) experienced a 35 per cent rise in demand over the Christmas period compared to the 2023/2024 holiday season.
According to NEDOC Operations Manager Ms Arlene Fitzsimons, the co-op managed 6,500 patient contacts from 20 December to 2 January. The service covers Meath, Monaghan, Cavan, and Louth.
Speaking to the Medical Independent (MI), Ms Fitzsimons attributed the surge to a confluence of influenza, RSV, Covid-19, and gastrointestinal illness circulating in the community. Centres in Navan and Drogheda were particularly busy.
Demand was up 10 per cent when compared to the 2019 Christmas period,
she added.
According to Southdoc Medical Director Dr Gary Stack, the service experienced a 10 per cent rise in contacts compared to 2023 for the five busiest days of the holiday period (Christmas Day, St Stephen’s Day, Saturday 28 December, Sunday 29 December, and New Year’s Day).
“We received 150 calls per hour at peak time,” Dr Stack told MI. Despite the demand, over 70 per cent of contacts with the service were fully completed within three hours. Southdoc managed 89 per cent of contacts and the remaining 11 per cent were referred to hospital, he added.
Ms Fitzsimons said she is witnessing a continuous growth in demand for out-of-hours services due to many factors, including GP shortages and a lack of GPs taking on new patients in the community.
“A lot of the work undertaken in out-of-hours is outside the scope of the GMS contract, which is supposed to be for patients registered with a GP who need urgent access to a GP in the evenings and at night,” Ms Fitzsimons said. “We are definitely seeing a lot of calls for non-urgent, routine issues from patients. Patients are using us for routine care and because they don’t want to wait to see their own GP.
“A rise of 35 per cent over Christmas is far beyond the scope of the GMS and needs to be looked at strategically by the HSE. The out-of-hours is a valuable resource, but greater supports are required.”
Ms Fitzsimons welcomed the start of a collaboration between NEDOC and the HSE National Ambulance Service facilitating three paramedics to conduct patient house visits.
The project commenced in January and will last for one month. The service is hugely valuable to NEDOC, Ms Fitzsimons explained, as it allows GPs to remain in treatment centres.
“By sending a paramedic out early to a patient, it would also help prevent an emergency department presentation. It’s about trying to manage demand and is working very well.”
Pilot projects involving paramedic support have been conducted at NEDOC in the past, but such supports have yet to be introduced on a permanent basis.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.