The Government in Northern Ireland has announced it will invest £61m to expand GP multidisciplinary teams to more areas of the country.
Finance minister John O’Dowd announced a £129m investment for six ‘transformation projects’ across healthcare, special educational needs, justice and infrastructure, including the primary care multidisciplinary team (MDT) programme.
This is a ‘partnership’ between GP federations and trusts, to introduce physiotherapy, social work and mental health roles into general practice to work alongside the existing practice team.
The programme is currently complete or in development in the Down, Derry, West Belfast, Causeway, Ards and North Down GP federation areas, and will be expanded to a further five areas: North Belfast, South West (Fermanagh/West Tyrone) and East Antrim, Craigavon, and Armagh and Dungannon.
However, the BMA warned that multidisciplinary teams will only be successful if general practice is ‘stabilised’ first and called for an increase in core funding for practices.
BMA Northern Ireland GP committee chair Dr Frances O’Hagan said she hoped that this announcement is not ‘a short term funding fix’, and asked the Government to clarify what happens to MDTs ‘in five years after this funding round is over’.
She said: ‘Additional funding for primary care is welcome. We have consistently said there needs to be full roll out of MDTs in Northern Ireland so everyone has the opportunity to access services.
‘As it stands and even with this additional funding this is not the case. Patients are facing inequity in terms of the services available to them.
‘MDTs will only be successful in meeting patients’ needs if general practice as an entity is stabilised.
‘As we said recently, there needs to be increased core funding for GPs, a long-term fully funded indemnity solution and a plan to address workforce issues.’
Multidisciplinary teams started to be rolled out in Northern Ireland in 2018, when the Department of Health announced that the Down and Derry GP federations had been chosen for the first stage of the project.
The West Belfast GP Federation received funding in late 2018 to enable the recruitment of physiotherapists in a partial roll out of the model. In 2019, GP federations covering Causeway and Newry & District were also included.
Health minister Mike Nesbitt said: ‘Primary care multidisciplinary teams clearly work. They are probably the biggest success story of recent years in transforming our health service.
‘I believe that the programme, and the close collaboration between trusts and GP federations that underpins it, remains the key to stabilising vital primary care services in our communities, to ensure they can continue to provide high quality care to people, now and into the future.’
Northern Ireland’s GPs saw the full £38.9m worth of QOF funding repurposed for core services and indemnity cover last year.
And GP leaders voted in favour of demanding that the Government ringfence recurrent indemnity funding for all GPs, in a bid to attract more doctors.
