BUDGET 2023: 430,000 to get free GP visit card but where are the doctors to treat us?

Today's budget sees a range of measures aimed at cutting healthcare costs for families, but with an extreme shortage of GPs in Meath, questions as to how the new measures will work have been raised.

An additional 430,000 are to get a free GP visit card and while there is a shortage of GPs across the country, in Meath it is particularly acute with just one GP per 3,059 people - nearly four times the national average of one per every 861 people.

Other healthcare measures include the abolition of in-patient hospital fees, free contraception to women up to the age of 30 and a publicly funded IVF scheme, which is set to be phased in.

Navan GP, Dr Seamus McMenamin said there was a concern over capacity, because of the shortage of GPs.

"Patients are having difficulty getting to see GPs because of the shortage of doctors.

"When we see the results of the latest census, Meath may have the lowest ratio of doctors in the country.

"Capacity is a major stumbling block. What value has a free GP card is you cannot get to see a doctor," he asked.

Dr McMenamin said it would also affect the NEDOC out of hours services, as people turn to them if they cannot get to see their own GP.

Meath's extreme shortage of GPs has been highlighted by Cllr Emer Toibin.

"According to 2018 figures, the Irish Patient Association points to a national average of one GP per 861 people. In Meath, we are facing the grim prospect of one GP per 3,059 people - nearly four times the national average," she said.

"So many constituents come into the Aontú constituency office looking to get an appointment with their existing GP or to get onto a waiting list for a GP practice if they are new to the area," she said.

As a result of a parliamentary question asking how many GPs are working in Meath and the numbers in practice for each of the last five years, she learned that there are 72 working in the county this year compared to 70 last year, 72 in 2020 , 69 in 2019 and 67 in 2018.

"This response was stark and far far worse than expected and throws light on why so many people are struggling to get an appointment for weeks on end. In effect, the number of GPs to a population of over 220,000 people falls way below safe levels of GP healthcare access. It begs the question as to why patients in this county are completely being failed by the HSE in terms of GP resources."

"We have shocking difficulty in accessing hospital care - nearly one million people are awaiting hospital care nationally. We have long delays in accessing A & E care and we have to wait weeks to see a GP.

"To further compound Meath's abysmal provision of healthcare access, the HSE, the Minister of Health and this government want to close our Emergency Department in Navan and replace it with a GP referral system for access to a Medical Assessment Unit.

"I for one would love to hear the Minister explain how this proposed reconfiguration could possibly work."

Cllr Toibin advised anyone looking for a GP who received three refusals from medical centres or individual GPs, to send an email to

clientregistration@hse.ie and detail the names of the three GPs and the reasons you were not admitted on their lists (usually full).

"The HSE must then allocate a GP to you," she said.