GP surgeries: Almost 100 NI practices need support, says BMA

Almost 100 GP practices in Northern Ireland have sought emergency support or are in crisis, the British Medical Association (BMA) has said.

Dr Alan Stout from the BMA said that unless support was given, the health service would not be able to sustain increasing demand.

Department of Health figures show that the number of GPs in Northern Ireland has risen by almost 20% since 2014.

In that same time period the number of practices fell from 350 to 319.

The Department of Health said it and Health Minister Robin Swann were "very aware of the challenges that face general practice".

Dr Stout revealed that in the past number of months, more than 70 GP practices in Northern Ireland had received help from a "general practice improvement and crisis response team".

That was on top of another 22 "in crisis", which he described as being "at risk of imminent closure".

"That is an astonishing number of practices that are experiencing real, real difficulty on a daily basis," said Dr Stout, chair of the BMA's GP committee in Northern Ireland.

He explained that the "rescue teams" were made up of very experienced administrative staff and young GPs who go into a practice when it cannot maintain cover.

One member of the rescue team is Dr Richard Mayne, who said the role involves working in practices all over Northern Ireland.

He said: "There is plenty of variety to my working week.

"Thankfully some of those practices are no longer in crisis and I think trying to put the emphasis on a practice improvement team more than a crisis response team to be a more optimistic look at it."

Dr Mayne said he was not sure if he would go into practice as a GP partner.

"There are lots of positives about it, however it is also hugely challenging," he said.

"You are basically running a business as well which is something you never really get trained to do through medical school or GP training.

"But I certainly wouldn't rule it out in future if I was to find the right place."

Dr Stout said the struggle to get staff was reflected in the difficulty some patients were having getting to see a GP.

He said that in the immediate term the BMA's GP committee would meet the health minister next week.

"We have various asks of them to give us some immediate breathing space in terms of just stabilizing practices," he said.

"Longer term we need to look at how general practice develops and expands."

Dr Stout also stressed the need for a multi-year budget which would enable planning for the future.

He said: "At the moment we are simply firefighting with a partial in-year budget.

"The longer it goes on, this will be irrecoverable and that is a huge, huge fear of ours."

He added that could be "the complete collapse of the health service".

"If general practice collapses and what we're seeing with practice closures, the rest of the health service will not be able to sustain that," he said.

The Department of Health said it was "continuing to work closely with GP representatives to consider how best to respond to these challenges".

It said it "fully recognises the importance of retaining experienced doctors within our GP workforce in Northern Ireland" and has a number of schemes in place to help.

It added: "The health minister has placed on record his deep concerns about escalating budgetary pressures and uncertainties.

"Notwithstanding the scale of the challenges, he is determined to press ahead with the reconstruction and transformation of our health service.

"The department is preparing for the eventuality that funding pressures in health will become increasingly significant as this financial year progresses."