No Midoc solution as 100,000 calls for GP out-of-hours help in Laois and Midlands recorded

The number of people seen by doctors at the Midoc out-of-hours GP centres in Portlaoise and other towns doubled in 2022 as overall requests for help surged across the Midlands, according to newly published figures from the HSE.

Health management has also revealed that the number of contacts from the public to the service that's now in limbo rose beyond 100,000 over 12 months in Laois, Offaly, Longford and Westmeath.

A total of 101,692 contacts were made to Midoc in 2022. This was up from nearly 90,000 the previous year and higher than the over 87,000 contacts for help made in 2019.

In  total, there were 49,280 attendances at Midoc centres in Portlaoise, Tullmamore, Longford and Mullingar in 2022. That was up from 24,187  the previous year. It was less than the  65,289 who went to centres before Covid-19 in 2019.

Of the contacts, a total of 25,029 were dealt with by triage nurses.

A total of 25,393 spoke to a doctor by phone. This is significantly up on just over 3,800 calls dealt with by doctors in the year before Covid-19 struck.

Out of the total contacts in 2022, nearly 17,000 ended up in a referral to a hospital  Emergency Department. This was up on the 13,200 patients who had to go to A&E in the year before the pandemic.

The information was provided to councillors from Laois and other counties at the Dublin Mid-Leinster Health Forum.

Laois County Councillor Thomasina Connell was among those to seek clarity about the status of out-of-hours care in Laois and other counties due to the withdrawal at Christmas of a GP company that provided doctors.

The HSE said that will the service continues to work as normal, a long-term solution to the withdrawal of Midoc GP Company Limited by Guarantee has not been found.

International accounting firm called in to examine the costs of Laois out-of-hours GP service

It said the company withdrew due to the financial challenges faced in providing out-of-hours care across the four counties.

In recent days the Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP) and Association of University Departments of General Practice in Ireland (AUDGPI) called for urgent action on the funding and development of undergraduate General Practice placements to help address the ongoing GP workforce crisis.