Sir, – I wish to disagree strongly with the opinion piece by Dr Jacky Jones (Health+ Family, February 25th). GPs are working flat out. There is little or no extra capacity in the GP system at present.
Attempting to treat childhood obesity by repeated visits to GPs has no evidence base in fact. Childhood obesity is multifactorial in origin and there is no evidence that GPs working on their own have any effect on children’s weight or lifestyle behaviours which are at the core of the issue. There is also a much more serious side to this.
Because of the lack of extra capacity in the GP system, such consultations can only be carried out by neglecting patients who are in need of our services. These include children and adults with acute illness who need to be seen on the same day. They also include those patients with chronic illness such as high blood pressure and diabetes, many of whom get the bulk of their care in general practice. There is not room for both. – Yours, etc,
Dr RAY O’CONNOR,
Cregan Avenue,
Kileely, Limerick.
Sir, – Dr Jacky Jones (Health + Family, February 25th) attempts to celebrate the under-sixes medical card with a lovely scenario of a GP and a practice nurse spending 25 minutes explaining to a mother that chips and soft drinks are indeed bad for her overweight child.
Under the new contract, GPs will be obliged to measure and record the height and weight of each child three times a year.
Dr Jones appears to be removed from the realities of general practice in Ireland. I give examples of a number of typical calls.
Caller A: I have central chest pain – can I see the doctor? Or Caller B: My blood sugars are running very high – I need to see the doctor. Or Caller C: I have just found a breast lump – I need to see the doctor.
Receptionist: Sorry the doctor is fully booked for the next 10 days measuring children and discussing their weights and recording their parents’ smoking status for the HSE.
All callers: Why didn’t the HSE simply employ a panel of dieticians who could visit schools and identify at risk children and liaise with their parents and let the doctors get on with doing their job?
Receptionist: Because the HSE did not once seek the advice of doctors before introducing this morally and medically flawed concept to the public, hiding behind the competition authority as a reason for non-engagement.
All callers: What will I do?
Receptionist: I’m afraid you’ll have to go to A &E where the waiting times are down to 45 hours if you hurry! – Yours, etc,
Dr SHANE MCCARTHY,
The Clinic,
The Old Quarter,
Ballincollig, Cork.