Remote-work option ‘could persuade GPs to postpone retirement’

The Irish College of GPs has called for the widescale use of telemedicine to allow older doctors to continue to work through the Covid-19 crisis

A lot of remote medical work will be done by healthy, young doctors better suited to frontline work, according to the ICGP. Picture: Getty

Telemedicine should be used to allow retiring or quarantining family doctors to continue working this winter, the Irish College of GPs (ICGP) has said.

Dr Mary Favier, president of the ICGP, warned that a “higher number” of GPs are expected to retire in the coming months due to fears of being exposed to Covid-19.

The ICGP had previously predicted that about 200 GPs would retire this year, part of an estimated 660 due to retire ...