The COVID-19 pandemic brought greater public recognition of the critical role of GPs in healthcare delivery, but not of the GP workforce crisis, features of which include GP vacancies, closed practices, an ageing workforce, GP emigration/attrition and a shortage of locum cover.
The workforce crisis threatens the Irish health system and its ability to deliver healthcare to an ageing population, to recover from the pandemic and to transform into a primary-care centred system (via Sláintecare). By 2028, Ireland needs to expand its’ GP workforce by 32-42% . To achieve this, the government increased GP training places and extended the age of GP retirement. However, to strengthen the GP workforce, Ireland must also improve GP retention. This requires a better understanding of GPs, their workloads and working lives and why they opt to exit the workforce (via emigration, early retirement, career change, reduced working hours).
Although these issues should be factored into workforce planning, they are poorly understood. Recent workforce projections did not consider GP emigration, although data generated by the PI indicates a GP emigration rate to Australia of approximately 25% (Australian work visas were issued to 550 Irish GPs from 2011-21).
The GP-R project is a GP retention-focused collaboration between researchers, knowledge users (ICGP), policy makers (Dept Health, HSE NDTP, Medical Council), front-line GPs and the public. Using innovative ethnographic methods to engage with GPs via WhatsApp and Zoom, it will for the first time, generate in-depth insights into the working lives of Ireland’s GPs (N=20); quantify the rate of GP emigration and engage with Irish-trained GPs abroad (N=10) to ascertain the drivers of emigration and how to encourage return/retention.
The GP-R research findings will enhance GP workforce planning policy, inform public debate around GP retention/attrition and highlight its importance to healthcare access, healthcare delivery and GP wellbeing.
