HSE readvertise for vacant GP position on Achill

THE HSE have once again advertised for the position of a General Practitioner for Achill a position which has been vacant since 2020.

The post of General Practitioner for Achill Island has been advertised by the HSE with potential applicants having until Wednesday, March 26 to express their interest in filling the post. The interviews for the post are scheduled to be held on April 9, 2025. The HSE stated that the size of the GMS Panel in Achill is approximately 480 patients.

The GP post on Achill Island which has been vacant since mid 2020 following the resignation of two GPs and the retirement of a third. The HSE have advertised the vacant post up to a dozen times since then but they have been unsuccessful in recruiting a doctor to fill the post.

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In 2020, Dr Fergil Coulihan and Dr Noreen Lineen-Curtis both resigned from their position in the Achill practitioners and the retirement of Dr Edward King at the end of 2020 meant that Dr Bernadette O’Leary is the only permanent GP on Achill.

At the end of 2022, the Joint Committee on Health debate heard that ‘in the past three years, the HSE has spent €1.3 million on GP locums on the island of Achill’. In response the HSE confirmed that since July 2020 HSE Community Healthcare West has spent ‘in the region of €25,000 per month’ employing a GP through a Locum Agency in Achill as it is unable to fill a vacant GP position on the island.

The HSE have also advertised for a GP for Ballinrobe with potential applicants also having until Wednesday, March 26 to express their interest in filling the post.