GP at Cork Simon honoured by Royal College of General Practitioners

Congratulations to GP at Cork Simon, Dr Don Coffey who was recently appointed Fellow of the Royal College of General Practitioners in London. Fellowship is the highest honour awarded by the College and recognises the esteem in which a doctor is held by peers and acknowledges "someone who has made a contribution to patient care... significantly over and above what might reasonably be expected", as the President of the College Dr Iona Heath put it.

The majority of people who are homeless have an underlying mental or physical illness and mortality rates 3½ to 4 times greater than the housed population. Dr Coffey and his team, based at Cork Simon's Emergency Shelter ran over 2,400 consultations in 2010 with people using Cork Simon projects and services, helping them on their journey out of homelessness.