Irish College of GPs publishes priorities to ensure general practice is at the frontline of healthcare

The Irish College of GPs (ICGP) has published Strengthening the Future of GP Care in Ireland – an 11-page set of priorities. The document is an update of Shaping the Future, which was published in 2022. It revisits progress made on the points in that statement on the actions required to support the future of a strong general practice. The context is the Sláintecare policy to shift care into the community and away from hospitals. 

The Chief Executive Officer of the ICGP Fintan Foy said: “This is a fresh analysis of the challenges facing general practice in Ireland, at a time of expansion and significant change in population, care delivery and the role of GPs. General practice is the cornerstone of Irish healthcare delivery. With these priorities, we have identified the supports that general practice needs to deliver integrated community care, digital health and develop its workforce.” 

The College sets out five priorities to strengthen the future of general practice against the background of a growing and ageing population, delivering more complex care, and addressing the expectations of the next GP generation. 

The priorities are:

• Connected care – build shared eHealth records to ensure continuity, safety, and integrated care for every patient; 
• A workforce for the future – grow and support the GP workforce to meet rising demand and deliver care where patients need it most; 
• Quality at the core – embed high value audit, research, and quality improvement activity in daily general practice; 
• GP as a first choice – make general practice an attractive, supported career path from medical school to retirement; 
• Smarter with data – harness health data to highlight pressure points in care delivery, guide resource planning, and improve outcomes. 

Medical Director of the ICGP Dr Diarmuid Quinlan said: “GPs are the first and ongoing point of care for millions of people across Ireland. Every day, over 88,000 GP consultations take place in general practice – each one carefully recorded within secure practice computer systems.

These thousands of daily interactions form the backbone of healthcare delivery in Ireland, supporting continuity of care and safe clinical decision-making. This set of priorities shows what we believe is needed to grow and strengthen the high-quality services that GP teams can deliver.

“We acknowledge that access to GPs is not equal, with fewer GPs per head of population in rural Ireland and urban deprived areas. Our workforce is under intense and growing strain due to the high increase in demand. We need to expand and sustain the GP workforce, not only by increasing training places, but also by addressing retention, working conditions, and career flexibility.” 

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