Ballygar-based GP Martin Daly was recently appointed President of the Irish Medical Organisation. Dr. Daly, who served on the Western Health Board for many years, was previously Vice President of the organisation. Dr Daly’s parents Joe and Madeline are GPs and ran a practice in Ballygar which he now runs with his wife Myriam, also a GP. Challenges identified by Dr. Daly for his term include consultants’ contracts, new contracts for GPs and out of hours working. In his address to the AGM of the IMO, Dr. Daly prioritised secondary care hospitals such as Portiuncula Hospital in Ballinasloe and Mayo General Hospital in Castlebar. Speaking about cancer services, he said, ‘people are voting with their feet as they have no other option. In Ballinasloe, women who had access to mammography now go to the Galway clinic. They pay more for it and the mammograms are read by the self same radiologists. Is it beyond our imagination in this age of technology that certain radiological tests could be done locally with modern equipment and be sent downline to be double read? Chemotherapy by protocol is being administered in local centres successfully already. He also asked, ‘Will there be capacity in our centres of excellence for the elderly person in Roscommon town who need five days low intensity nursing and medical inpatient care or will that person join the ever lengthening queue in Galway 50 miles away for access to a bed that really should be reserved for the patient who needs tertiary care?’
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