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Ireland's GP shortage reaches rural practices and commuter towns

Prime Time finds long appointment waits and isolated doctors, as politicians debate whether more training places can keep pace with demand.

Channel: RTÉ News ·

IrelandStory of October 28, 2026Trari Newsroom

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RTÉ News: The news division of RTÉ, Ireland's public broadcaster. 255K subscribers and 181M views.

The struggle to find a GP: Where are Ireland’s doctor shortages worst? | Prime Time

Things we can learn from the video

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0:43Swanlinbar GP Dr Cristian Cimpoeru warns that his workload risks burnout and added pressure on hospitals.
3:34County comparisons do not produce a simple geographical answer to where GP shortages are worst.
5:37Celbridge residents describe appointment waits lasting weeks and long journeys to obtain care.
7:17Crosbie reports 274 newly graduated GPs but warns that winter pressures are likely to worsen.
9:10Daly emphasizes training and infrastructure; Cullinane says recruitment must match population growth and offer manageable working conditions.
12:00The debate examines public-private partnership failures and delays to the Strategic Review of General Practice.

A notice at Swanlinbar Medical Practice sets out the limits: "10 Min One Problem." In the County Cavan village, GP Dr Cristian Cimpoeru describes a workload he fears will become unsustainable as winter adds pressure.

"It's going to be very, very hard and I will get burned out at some stage," he says in a report by Ireland's Radio Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) News. He also warns that pressure on general practitioners, the family doctors who provide much of people's first contact with healthcare, will spill into hospitals.

The Prime Time investigation follows the problem from rural West Cavan to Celbridge in County Kildare, where residents describe waiting weeks for appointments or traveling long distances for care. One resident puts the wait at "four to five weeks."

Its title asks where Ireland's doctor shortages are worst, but reporter Josh Crosbie cautions against a simple geographical answer. Presenting county-level comparisons involving Monaghan, Roscommon, Sligo and Kildare, he says: "There's no definitive geographical location that's better or worse off." The report shows that access difficulties are not confined to remote communities.

Crosbie reports that 274 newly graduated GPs are entering the picture, yet warns that pressures are likely to worsen before they ease.

In the studio, presenter Miriam O'Callaghan presses Fianna Fáil health spokesperson Dr Martin Daly and Sinn Féin health spokesperson David Cullinane on capacity and government policy. Daly points to increased GP training numbers, while emphasizing the difficulty of replacing doctors who run rural practices alone. He argues that recruitment needs supporting infrastructure and stronger primary care services.

Cullinane says population growth is outstripping recruitment and that working conditions must become more manageable if new graduates are to choose general practice. The discussion also examines public-private partnership failures in places such as Ballaghaderreen and delays to the Strategic Review of General Practice: problems that training additional doctors alone will not resolve.