Family living in Mayo are waiting four years to see a GP

A family living near Ballyhaunis has been waiting four years to be seen by a local GP, highlighting what appears to be a widespread challenge in Ballyhaunis.

“When we first moved to Ballyhaunis we rang around a few GPs in the wider area, like Castlerea, Knock, Claremorris, Castlebar. They all said they were full. That was early 2021,” explained Taylor Crowshaw who moved to a property her and her husband purchased and renovated in Coogue South.

In the meantime, Taylor and her husband drive to Cavan, where they lived for 30 years, to see their previous GP.

“It’s a day’s journey up and down,” says Taylor.

But aside from the journey she worries what happens when her husband – “he’s 75 now and in good health” - is no longer able to drive. Likewise, she’s worried what will happen when her doctor in Cavan retires.

“I phone a lot of GPs and the answer is just ‘no, no space.’ I ask ‘can you not just see me once as an emergency?’ But they send me to the out-of-hours doctor in Knock.”

Follow-up care for a bile duct operation was difficult, explained Taylor. Likewise, they had to cope without a local GP when her husband had a stroke at the end of 2021.

“Thankfully he’s okay… he got great care at Mayo University Hospital (MUH) but we weren’t able to get a GP.”

Referrals for visits to MUH had to be done through the GP in Cavan.

“We have also had to go to Cavan to get a scan.”

Several other Ballyhaunis-based people suggested they have also struggled to find a local GP, with several relying on Mayo University Hospital for medical needs. Others meanwhile explained they’d secured access to a local GP through local Irish connections.

An Eastern European factory worker said an Irish friend two years ago secured him access to a Ballyhaunis GP with whom he had a good relationship.

“Since that time I have brought my wife and children to Ballyhaunis but I still go to that local doctor, anytime I need to I make an appointment and pay €60.”

Similarly, a resident of the local IPAS centre explained how his local employer had prevailed on a local doctor to see him, his wife and three children.

Separately a Ballyhaunis native explained how his local GP agreed “as a favour to me” to see a Ukrainian native with a recurring medical problem.

“The doctor continues to see him,” he said.

A retired medic explained there are a range of factors behind the shortage of GP places. The number of doctors operating in Ballyhaunis has stayed largely constant compared to earlier decades, he noted.

“However, their workload has increased significantly as the population ages and various government health programmes put new duties on local doctors.”

While acknowledging the increase in the local population - and the greater longevity of the population - the retired medic also explained that “people’s expectations from a medical practice have increased”.

“People bring more things to a doctor. There’s also heightened expectations from the medication as to what the outcome should be. Preventative medication has become more important. Therefore, the amount of work per person or patient seen has increased.”

Another factor complicating the future of rural medical services is the reluctance among younger doctors to take on a medical practice, said the retired medic.

“They want a job [in a hospital] or they want to join an existing practice. But someone has to take responsibility for running a practice.”