The Deep End Ireland group is made up of General Practitioners (GPs) working in the most disadvantaged communities across Ireland.

It has been shown in the international literature that people living in deprived circumstances have worse health outcomes and endure more complex multimorbidity than the general population. In Ireland, people from the most deprived socio-economic groups have a mortality rate twice as high as those from the most affluent groups. Alarmingly, Ireland has one of the highest drug-induced mortality rates in Europe, with 97 deaths per million inhabitants, significantly exceeding the EU average of 22.5 deaths per million. 

Drug use is a daily reality in our practices. We know that substance use is more prevalent in deprived areas, and the data supports this. A 2023 study found a stark disparity in treatment access: in very and extremely disadvantaged areas, there were 293 treatment episodes per 10,000 people, compared to just 61–66 per 10,000 in areas of above-average affluence...