Just one-quarter of GP trainees are definitely planning to stay in Ireland after they qualify, a new report from the Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP) has revealed.

According to the ICGP, these findings raise major concerns about future workplace planning in this area of medicine.

The report is based on the results of two surveys, which were carried out between 2010 and 2013. One involved almost 650 GP trainees and the other involved 445 recent GP graduates.

The findings revealed that while almost two in three future GPs would prefer to stay in Ireland, many are considering emigration for a number of reasons, including concerns surrounding their role in the Irish healthcare system and uncertainty in relation to defined career progression.

The report notes that among GP trainees, just one-quarter plan to definitely stay in Ireland. At least 12% are definitely planning to emigrate, while 25% are undecided about their future.

Among GP graduates, almost 17% are already working overseas and among these, just 17% are planning to return to work in Ireland. Furthermore of the graduates that have remained in Ireland, 44% admit they are not convinced that they will stay here.

According to Dr Gerard Mansfield of the ICGP, this issue is ‘a major concern for Government as it seeks to move additional services into general practice and the community'.

He insisted that there is a positive message for Government from this report and that is the fact that many GP trainees and graduates want to stay in Ireland.

"The research shows that a majority of these trainees and graduates are undecided about emigration. However, both groups are facing an uncertain future here as in recent years, Irish general practice has been weathering a time of unprecedented change, including the proposed introduction of free GP care for some patient groups as well as Universal Health Insurance," he commented.

He said that for trainees and recent graduates, choosing to stay in Ireland ‘does not compare favourably with career opportunities in other markets, where they can find security in their professional roles, defined career progression opportunities and stable organised healthcare systems'.

Also commenting on the report, Dr Darach O'Cairdha of the ICGP warned that these findings are ‘an important signal of the manpower uncertainty facing general practice in Ireland, one which will require a strong policy response from Government'.

Meanwhile, the report also noted an increase in part-time work among GPs. At least one in five recent entrants into this workforce work part-time. Rates of part-time work are higher among older GPs and female GPs.

It also found a major decline in single-handed practitioners, with just 1% of recent graduates seeing themselves setting up in practice on their own.

Dr O'Ciardha said that these are also areas the Government needs to look at as they will impact the ‘volume of care nationally available to patients'. The decline of single-handed GPs will particularly affect rural communities, ‘with patients potentially having to travel further for GP access or GPs needing to travel extended distances to deliver care'.