GPs in Northern Ireland will be given a 1% pay uplift, exceeding their counterparts across the UK, the NI Government has announced.
As part of the contract agreement, 263 points will be removed from the QOF, which equates to an extra £13m being transferred to the Global Sum equivalent pot.
Practices will also receive an extra £1m overall for doing the same work in 2014/15m after the Government increased the value of the QOF.
However, the agreement has increased the lower threshold of 13 QOF indicators by 20 percentage points.
The BMA confirmed that practices will receive a 1% pay uplift overall.
This is in contrast to practices in England, Scotland and Wales, who will all receive a 0.28% uplift, which the various governments claim equates to a 1% increase in pay.
The Northern Ireland Government has said it will continue working with the GPC on the issue of equitable distribution of funding and the workloads in general practice.
GPC leader Tom Black said: ‘This is challenging time for the health service and I welcome the fact that the minister has listened carefully to the views of the general practice, and that we have been able to reach a deal that will benefit our patients.’
‘With the issues resolved we can engage in the important role that GPs and their staff will be playing in the delivery of the Transforming Your Care strategy.’
Health minister Edwin Poots said: ‘GPs are absolutely vital in helping deliver our health strategy, and this is why it was important that we reached agreement on the changes for next year.’
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