A Leitrim GP says he's concerned about the future of rural practices in Ireland.
Dr Paul Armstrong who's recently been elected as President of the Irish College of General Practitioners says the arrival of corporate medical practices in Ireland will bring a new set of challenges for GP's in less populated areas.ICGP,
The ICGP is the professional body for general practice in Ireland and its aim is to serve the patient and doctor by encouraging and maintaining high standards of service.
Dr Armstrong who practices in Lifford in Donegal says there are a range of challenges that he will be working on during his term, particularly in relation to the shortage of GP's nationally,
He also says he has concerns about the future of GP practices in rural counties given the advent of some much bigger models in recent years.
'I'm from Carrick-on-Shannon myself , I've trained in the North West , I've worked here for nearly 40 years.
I don't want to see rural practice decimated or changed , I think it's a huge issue , like all over the country there are corporate medical practices coming in.
I think that there are some questions around that in the longer term, in terms of their commitment to provide community services .
They're all things that are going on and y'know being involved in the college gives a person the chance to hopefully be able to influence some of those trends.'
