GPs have heard a call for more funding to help them tackle the challenges they face. Speaking at the Local Medical Committee (LMC) conference today, Northern Ireland’s head of GPs, Dr Frances O’Hagan, said GPs were facing a range of issues which increased the pressures they faced and meant that the risk of more practices closing was not taken into account. party.

Speaking today, Dr O’Hagan said: “We entered into negotiations for the 24/25 GMS contract in good faith and the aim was to stabilize general practice, move funding to the core and to find a temporary compensation solution. We have achieved the majority of these goals, but there have been challenges, including the salary increase recommended by the DDRB. This must be paid in full. The other three devolved countries were paid and Scotland received a higher DDRB award. Anything less here means GPs in Northern Ireland are falling further behind their colleagues in other countries.

“Compensation is another unresolved issue that uniquely affects GPs in Northern Ireland. We were promised a solution by the previous minister and we were also promised a document on a solution for here by the end of the calendar year. The Minister has said he is committed to this and we want a solution implemented by April 25, with additional funding earmarked.

“GP practices are also facing a problem caused by the Chancellor’s Budget and increased national insurance contributions. GPs will have to find the money to pay the increased contributions, costing practices tens of thousands of pounds. This will lead to reductions in staff, including salaried GPs, nurse practitioners and administrative staff, and even an increase in practice handouts.

“None of these options are good for GPs and none of these options are good for patient access. These costs must be offset either by reversing the Chancellor’s decision or by additional funding.

“This year’s Audit Office report indicates that spending on general medicine represents only 5.4% of the health budget. This is incredibly low, considering we carry out over 90% of consultations in the NHS in Northern Ireland. Our workload is actually increasing due to long waiting times, our patients keep coming back to us waiting to be seen in secondary care.

“We need the ministry’s commitment to increase this percentage so that we can provide better service to our patients. We need a commitment to a gradual increase year on year to give patients the service they deserve from general practice.

“The Court of Auditors also said that the number of GPs in training must increase. The Department is committed to recommending an increase in GP training, and we need to work on this urgently.

“In a recent survey of all GPs on the high performers list, 49% of GPs who responded said they were likely to leave general practice in the next five years, 52 of of them were planned retirements, but 200 were not. It’s really worrying. The reason given was that the day job was simply too pressurized.

“Getting enough new GPs into the system is really important, but retaining existing staff now appears to be an even greater priority. We need to value all GPs and ensure that their daily work is less pressurized and more rewarding and that we are able to provide an excellent service to all our patients.

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