GPs in Northern Ireland have been given an extra £3.4m to help practices ‘meet additional winter demand’, the Department of Health has announced.
The NI Government will provide £3.4m in funding to both GMS and GP out-of-hours services to support practices to ‘increase their capacity’ to meet the ‘anticipated growth in demand’ over the winter.
Health minister Mike Nesbitt said that that in addition to this the Government will also provide £4.6m to assist GP practices across Northern Ireland to deliver ‘proactive support’ and care to those in care homes.
The measures are detailed in a 2024/25 ‘winter preparedness plan’, published yesterday.
But the BMA warned that this level of funding ‘will only begin to address the huge gaps in service’ that patients are facing in Northern Ireland and called for long-term solutions to address this.
According to the winter plan, a Pharmacy First ‘sore throat service’ will also be available from pharmacies across NI from 1 December, offering clinical assessment and treatment for sore throats for everyone aged five and over.
This service was available from 43 pharmacies on a pilot basis last winter, and was ‘effective in to helping to free up GP time’ and ‘relieve pressures’ on other urgent care services, according to the Government.
The document said: ‘As in previous years, general practice will continue to play a crucial role in helping to manage additional service demand and to keep people safe this winter.
‘Approximately 200,000 patient consultations are being carried out on a weekly basis by GP practices, with approximately 50% of these being face to face. It is critical that GP practices are supported in delivering this core service.’
Mr Nesbitt said: ‘There is no doubt that the Health and Social Care system is again facing a very difficult winter period.
‘The planning process for winter gets underway in springtime, to ensure that we can mitigate, as far as possible, the additional pressures that we know we will face.
‘For this winter, this includes measures to keep the population well in the community, including the use of community pharmacy, and measures to protect primary care, hospital care and social care.’
BMA Northern Ireland council chair Dr Alan Stout, a GP in Belfast, said: ‘As the Department has acknowledged, winter pressures are really yearlong pressures; there will be no let up on the need for hospital beds or GP appointments and it will be a struggle to keep up with elective work alongside emergencies and acute need.
‘Investment is health is always welcome, but I think we all know that this level of funding will only begin to address the huge gaps in service that patients are facing. What we really need are medium and long term plans to significantly reignite the planning and funding of our services.
‘We would encourage patients to use the additional services on offer from pharmacies and phone first, to get vaccinated if they are eligible and to work with hospitals in making sure relatives are discharged in a timely way to enable optimal patient flow through the system.’
Yesterday Dr Stout also wrote to Mr Nesbitt to urge him to clarify when the recommended DDRB pay uplift will be paid to doctors in Northern Ireland.
At the end of July, the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration (DDRB) recommended a 6% pay increase for GPs in all of the four nations.
Dr Stout said that the BMA is in the process of submitting evidence to the DDRB for 2025/26 but that they are doing this without any confirmation for the uplift for the current financial year.
He said: ‘Our members are increasingly asking for an update on the DDRB for 2024/25. I understand that conversations are ongoing with executive colleagues, following the Westminster Budget, but this is a matter of urgency for our members.
‘We would be grateful for an announcement in the very near future that the DDRB recommended uplift for 2024/25 is to be paid and in full, as your department has always done.’
A Department of Health spokesperson told Pulse: ‘The health service requires significant additional funding to match 2024/25 pay awards recommended by pay review bodies. The minister continues to press the case for this additional funding.’
Last week, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced that the Northern Ireland Executive will be provided with a £18.2bn settlement in 2025/26, the ‘largest in real terms in the history of devolution’, according to Labour.
While it did not specify spending on health, this includes a £1.5bn top-up through the Barnett formula, with £1.2bn for day-to-day spending and £270m for capital investment.
