Government Must Act Decisively to Address Severe Shortage of GPs in Meath, Says Local TD - 08/12/2025

Sinn Féin TD for Meath East, Darren O'Rourke, has called on the government to act decisively to address the severe shortage of GPs in Meath following analysis of new HSE figures was reported today and showed many parts of Meath are very poorly serviced including in East Meath which has 1 GP for a population of 5,090 people - the highest in the state.Teachta O'Rourke said; "In Meath, the picture is very bleak, there is a severe shortage of GPs. The ratio of population to GPs is 2,676:1 in south-west Meath; 2,518:1 in central Meath; 2,272 in North Meath and, incredibly, 5,090:1 in east Meath. Communities feel the impact of this crisis directly. Many families struggle to register with a GP, face long waits for appointments, and see practices closing their lists. This forces people towards already overwhelmed emergency departments, exacerbating the crisis in our hospitals”.Deputy O’Rourke joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about this. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.