Those who received care at home were asked about their access to various supports. The lowest-scoring question related to the availability of a GP to visit out of hours , with 39% of respondents saying that the GP was not available to visit if their loved one required a home visit for help with urgent problems outside of normal working hours.
During the week Monday to Friday 9am-5pm when my wife required help from the medical profession she was immediately looked after. At the weekend when she became ill she had to be admitted to hospital via A&E casualty dept, a very sick lady, which was a very stressful experience.
Wife, died aged 60-69, in a Hospice, County Dublin
There was notable geographical variation in the availability of GPs to visit people outside of normal working hours with urgent needs at end of life, as reported by survey participants (Figure 5) . Donegal was the best served county, with just 22% of people noting that a GP was not available to them out of hours, whereas in Westmeath, almost two thirds of people (64%) responded that a GP was not available to them out of hours.
22 % Donegal
64 % Westmeath
Figure 5. Geographical variation in the availability of a GP to help with urgent problems outside of normal working hours (out of hours). Values show the percentage of people reporting a GP was not available (n=1,439).
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Telling It Like It Is
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