The Irish College of GPs* is the professional body for general practice in Ireland. The College is the representative organisation for education, training and standards in general practice, with 4,500 members and associates comprising over 85% of practising GPs in the Republic of Ireland and 1,191 GPs in training.
Newly-published research funded by the Health Research Board and the Irish College of GPs examined GP emigration from Ireland through analysis of international data. The study “GP emigration from Ireland: an analysis of data from key destination countries” was published on 20th December 2024 in the BMC Health Services Research journal. (read here).
The study attempts to quantify GP emigration from Ireland by presenting secondary data on GP emigration from Ireland to Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada and New Zealand (the key destination countries for doctors (including GPs), emigrating from Ireland). Of note the study could not quantify doctors returning to Ireland from abroad, as Irish citizens would not need to notify authorities.
The authors state: “Source countries, such as Ireland, must get better at monitoring and responding to emerging trends in GP emigration and factoring them into GP workforce planning models and policies.”
The study indicates that without a central register of GPs in Ireland, it is difficult to accurately measure emigration rates, and with no measurement of Irish-trained GPs returning to the Irish workforce, it is also difficult to give an accurate picture of the emigration and migration trends.
The study highlights the historical pattern of GP emigration, particularly to the UK, with a cohort “who could be encouraged to return to practice in Ireland in the future. Policies to encourage return migration of Irish-trained GPs could form part of Ireland’s strategy for addressing the GP workforce crisis.”
The study mentions that in 2021-2022, 42 GPs from the entire GP workforce (equating to approximately 1% of all GPs) emigrated to the countries studied, while there were 144 new GP graduates that year. In addition, the authors had no visibility of GPs returning to Ireland from these countries. The number of GPs who emigrated in 2022-2023 was substantially reduced, indicating the variability of these data from year to year. The inability to account for GPs returning to Ireland renders the true picture incomplete, as acknowledged by the authors- “Ireland must begin to capture and publish this data to enable the development of an accurate and up-to-date picture of patterns of GP emigration, GP return and GP retention and to strengthen GP workforce planning.”.
The CEO of the Irish College of GPs, Fintan Foy, said: “This is a significant piece of research, which highlights the challenges of retaining our GPs in Ireland, and the gaps in our knowledge for workforce planning. While we would wish all our GPs to stay and work in Ireland, we are heartened by the relatively low level of GP emigration, particularly in recent years, and indicators that this continues to decline.”
He added: “The College’s own career intentions surveys (2023) show only 14% of trainees and 18% of graduates are considering emigration, while the HSE-NDTP reports a retention rate of 87% for 2016-2021 graduates.”
The Chair of the College’s Board, Dr Deirdre Collins, said: “It is essential to put this research in context. While it cited emigration rates having a 30% impact on the workforce, the study authors are clear this calculation comes with significant caveats and they could not account for returning GPs. We urgently need more data collected on the return rates for Irish-trained GPs.”
The study’s researchers were Dr Holly Rose Hanlon, Dr Eidin Ni She, Dr John-Paul Byrne, Dr Susan M Smith, Dr Andrew W Murphy, Dr Aileen Barrett, Dr Mike O’Callaghan and Dr Niamh Humphries.
*The Irish College of GPs was formerly known as the Irish College of General Practitioners.
ENDS
Issued by: Aileen O’Meara, Communications Consultant, Irish College of GPs.
Tel. 012542984 / 087 2239830. Email: media@icgp.ie