Senior officials from HSE South are to meet with a community group and doctors in An Daingean tomorrow to try to resolve a row over funding for a weekend and out-of-hours service in west Kerry.
Most GPs on the Dingle peninsula have refused to join the HSE-funded SouthDoc co-operative which covers the adjoining south Kerry areas. Thousands of local people have also signed petitions saying they want their own out-of-hours service, and a public protest was held in An Daingean this summer.
Locals are concerned that if they join in with the co-operative system they will no longer see their own GPs out-of-hours, and will have difficulty explaining themselves to doctors unfamiliar with the Gaeltacht area and its language.
Their concerns follow complaints in south Kerry about delays by locums unfamiliar with the area's geography in reaching patients
Community group Sláinte na Gaeltachta is supporting the GPs, who have presented a "24-hour model". This involves an increased rota and the employment of locums locally-based. Doctors on the peninsula will themselves answer the telephone to patients and will work closely with the ambulance service.