National Chronic Disease Management Programmes in Irish General Practice-Preparedness and Challenges

Area of Science:

• General Practice
• Healthcare Management
• Public Health

Background:

• Limited information exists on Irish general practice readiness for structured chronic disease management (CDM).
• Preparedness is influenced by practice size, location, and training status.
• Implementation challenges require exploration.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the logistic, staffing, and organizational preparedness of Irish general practice for CDM.
• To identify implementation challenges faced by general practices.
• To stratify preparedness by practice size, location, and training status.

Main Methods:

• An anonymous, paper-based random survey of 125 general practices.
• Chi-square tests for comparisons based on location, training status, and patient numbers.
• Prevalence ratio and Poisson regression to analyze staffing relationships.

Main Results:

• Rural, non-training practices, and those with fewer patients (<1500 GMS) had lower staffing levels.
• Rural practices had fewer General Practitioners (GPs), but nurse numbers were comparable.
• Key barriers included practice nurse salary costs, IT training, and clinical equipment, alongside inadequate referral and paramedical service access.

Conclusions:

• Irish general practice requires enhanced staffing, funding, and training to effectively implement structured CDM.
• Addressing resource limitations is essential for successful chronic disease care delivery.
• Targeted support for rural and smaller practices is needed.