Irish College of General Practitioners celebrates the contribution of Family Doctors on World Family Doctor Day today 19th May 2023.
Theme of World Family Doctor Day is “Family Practice – the Heart of Healthcare”. #WFDD23
Embargo 0700 Friday 19th May 2023
Today, on World Family Doctor Day, Family Doctors around the world, with WONCA, celebrate and recognise the vital role of family doctors in delivering healthcare.
The President of the Irish College of General Practitioners, Dr Eamonn Shanahan, a GP in Farranfore, in Kerry, said: “In Ireland, General Practitioners are the backbone of the health service. Every day, GPs and Practice Teams deliver a vast range of services to their patients, in communities both urban and rural. Despite the workforce pressures, and the growing shortage of GPs, we work in daytime and out-of-hours to help patients in a cradle-to-grave service.”
He added “General Practice is at the heart of healthcare in Ireland and worldwide, as we saw during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The College released statistics to illustrate the work of general practice in Ireland:
- We have 4,257 GPs
- We delivered 28 million consultations in 2022
- There were 1.05 million consultations in Out-of-Hours services in 2022
- 3.6m people attended their GPs in 2022.
- Practice Teams carried out 400,000 reviews in the Chronic Disease Management programme in 2022.
#WorldFamilyDoctorDay. #WFDD23
To find out more about World Family Doctor Day, go to https://worldfamilydoctorday.org/#wfdd
ENDS
ISSUED BY: Aileen O’Meara, Communications Consultant, Irish College of General Practitioners. Tel. 01 2542984 / 087 2239830
Email: media@icgp.ie www.icgp.ie