£40m boost for GP services in bid to deliver more appointments

A £40 million investment in Northern Ireland’s GP services has been announced in an effort to deliver more appointments across the region.

Stormont’s Department of Health has agreed a new contract with GPs backed by the funding to be spread over two years.

The department said the additional £20 million in each of the next two years will enable increased capacity in general practice to improve patient access and support wider reform as part of a neighbourhood health service.

GPs in Northern Ireland previously stopped performing certain functions that they had been providing in protest against former health minister Mike Nesbitt’s imposition of the 2025/26 GP contract on doctors, despite them rejecting its terms.

GPs have said an extra £80 million is required to stabilise general practice services in the region.

Health Minister Robbie Butler said the newly agreed contract and investment represents a “clear signal of my commitment to general practice – and to improving access for patients”.

“Difficulties getting an appointment with their GP is one of the issues people raise with me the most, which is why during negotiations I have been very clear that the financial package must deliver more appointments and services for people who need them,” he said.

Dr Frances O’Hagan, BMA NIGPC chairwoman, said it was “not a perfect deal” but the body believed “it gives us an opportunity to begin addressing some of the immediate pressures facing practices while opening the door to the longer-term reform”.

“We know this will not immediately resolve those pressures but it gives us an opportunity to build on the commitments secured through these negotiations and begin turning them into practical support for general practice,” she said.

“We will now work through the detail with the department and will judge this package on whether the commitments made translate into meaningful improvements for GPs, practices and ultimately patients.

“The additional funding is a step forward, but the test will be what it delivers in practice.

“Our acceptance reflects both the opportunity this offer provides and our recognition that further work is needed to address the longer-term pressures facing general practice.”

Sinn Féin MLA and chairman of Stormont’s health committee Philip McGuigan said Northern Ireland is “behind in terms of investment in primary care”.

“The £20 million next year and the year after to improve access will clearly help,” he said.

“GPs have been telling us for a long time now that they need to build capacity. This 20 million, I suspect, will go towards building capacity, but we can’t do that over a week or or a month, that will require time.

“But ultimately, as I say, the frustration that people are feeling out there about ringing their GP in the morning and not getting an appointment is the issue that needs to be resolved, and it does need to be resolved as a matter of urgency.”

Mr McGuigan said he is “satisfied and happy that GPs now have come off their work to rule and that they are back engaging fully” with the department.

“That is welcome, and you know GPs are often the first point of contact for the majority of people when they’re wanting to access healthcare, so they are a vitally important component of our healthcare system,” he said.

“The minister has a number of strategies: shift left, neighbourhood model, and GPs are intricate to that and absolutely essential to that, so, from that point of view, I think this is a good day.

“But as I say, ultimately, this announcement and progress within primary care and GPs will be judged upon people getting appointments when they ring their GP in the morning when they need the care.”