Dr Austin O'Carroll - WONCA Europe 5 Star Doctor 2020

WONCA Europe is proud to announce the winner of the WONCA Europe Award of Excellence in Health Care: The 5-Star Doctor 2020: Austin O’Carroll from Dublin, Ireland

Dr O'Carroll will be one of the European candidates for the WONCA World 5-Star Doctor Award of 2020 in Abu Dhabi in November.

The WONCA Europe 5 Star Doctor Award 2020 will be presented at the European Conference of Family Doctors in Berlin, December 17 - 19, 2020.  

About Dr Austin O’Carroll - a short extract from the winner’s application:

  • Dr Austin O' Carroll is a GP in inner city Dublin. He has a profound interest in health inequalities, and started eight specialised primary care services for homeless people. He raised funding for and established a mobile outreach clinic for rough sleepers. He was a founding member of the out of hours services D-Doc for the Dublin area.
  • He founded Safetynet, the umbrella organisation for primary care services providing health care to homeless people which is delivered in 18 hostels and food halls/drops in the centres of Dublin, Limerick and Cork. Safetynet also provides services to the Roma community; methadone services to homeless people; and services to migrants. He co-founded GMQ GP services for homeless people. He co-founded Curam, a new social enterprise that is setting up New GP practices in areas of deprivation
  • Dr. Austin O'Carroll is also the founder of the North Dublin City GP Training programme (NDCGP). In Ireland as well as internationally, NDCGP is the first GP training programme which specifically trains GPs to work in areas of deprivation and with marginalised groups. As part of their fourth year all NDCGP trainees work one day a week in homeless/prison/migrant/or drug addiction health services.
  • Dr. Austin O'Carroll is a member of the steering group of the Partnership for Health Equity of the National Health Service Office of Social Inclusion, NDCGP, the Irish College of GP and the University of Limerick.
  • He has completed a PhD in ethnographic research into homelessness.
  • Dr. Austin O'Carroll sails on the Irish Paralympics Sailing Team.