This article is from page 4 of the 2007-11-27 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 4 JPG
AN AWARD-WINNING © north Clare-based GP said yesterday that a much better balance needed to be found in health spending so as more could be spent on primary care. According to Ballyvaughan GP, Dr Liam Glynn, 80 to 90 per cent of pa- tients in the health system are treated through primary care, yet it only re- ceives 20 per cent of health funding.
Dr Glynn — who recently scooped a medical ‘Oscar’ for a research project — said, “The balance is way wrong in terms of how the large hospitals swallow large amounts of health funding and that needs to be changed around in favour of primary care funding.”
The Government’s Primary Care Strategy was published in 2001-02 and Dr Glynn said, “It is making progress, but it could be happening
quicker.
“When you invest in primary care, it results in a more cost effective and more effective health care system.”
Dr Glynn, whose brother Fergus also operates as a GP in north Clare, said that he was thrilled to win the Irish Journal of Medical Science An- nual Research Award for his paper entitled, “Chronic Kidney Disease as a Predicator of Cardiovascular Mor- bidity and Mortality’.
Dr Glynn also scooped the award in 2005 for his research on out-of-hours doctors’ service.
The results of Dr Glynn’s research into chronic kidney disease empha- sise the importance of recognising it as a significant risk factor in patients with cardiovascular disease in the community. The research involved a database of 1,609 patients with established cardiovascular disease. The database was generated from a randomised sample of 35 general practices in the west of Ireland.
On the challenges facing rural GP practices, Dr Glynn said, “Rural GPs need to be supported by Government. There is a need to ‘follow the patient’ and Government must accept that it 1s more expensive to provide a service in rural areas.” Dr Glynn said, “The people make it worthwhile. They are tremendous folk.”
Dr Glynn qualified from Trin- ity College, Dublin in 1995 and, after finishing his vocational train- ing in General Practice in the Scot- tish Highlands, returned to Galway where he completed the Senior Reg- istrar scheme in General Practice.
In November, 2004, he was ap- pointed Lecturer in Primary Care at NUI, Galway and is currently pursu- ing an MD in cardiovascular disease in the community.