Almost 11,000 people in one week fill in survey about how hard it is to get a GP appointment in Northern Ireland
Almost 11,000 people in less than a week have responded to a survey about the difficulties in getting a GP appointment.
The figure was cited in Stormont's Public Accounts Committee, which is carrying out an investigation into how hard it is to see GPs.
The survey is filled in online. It opened on February 28, and closes at midnight on March 27.
If the current rate of responses keeps up, then by the time the survey closes some 40,000-plus people will have filled it in (equivalent to 2% of the whole Province's population).
Thursday's sitting of the committee saw top Department of Health officials called to give evidence.
Before they did so, Assembly official Kirsten McCelland provided an update on the survey.
She said 10,900 responses had been received so far, and "it's a little bit frightening as I'm watching them tick up on my screen".
Chairman Daniel McCrossan (SDLP) said it was indeed "a hot topic".
"There's a substantial amount of engagement in relation to this, and a huge amount of interest as well," he said.
"It clearly shows this committee has its fingers on the pulse of a very clear issue for our public…
"I don't think there's been as many responses to the Programme for Government, so it shows you the significance of this particular issue for quite a lot of people."
Cheryl Brownlee (DUP) said: "It's something I've never seen before, that level of interest. I think we all knew that this topic was going to be one of interest, but that level is fantastic."
Peter May, the Permanent Secretary at the Department of Health, was invited in to give evidence.
He said negotiations over the contract between the NHS and GP surgeries for the 2025/26 year is currently in "a late stage" and "we want not to get into detail about numbers".
He hopes it will be resolved "in a matter of weeks".
Mr May said GP access is "one of the hottest subjects" for the public, and that his officials are currently working on a "best practice guide" to advise surgeries on how to deal with the level of demand they face.
"GP access is one of the things that's on the table for inclusion in the contract this year," he said.
"We're looking at ways in which it's possible to secure guarantees around access. For example, online access to online appointments on a more ready basis - on the basis that if we could remove the non-urgent from the queue early in the morning then that would enable more people to be able to get through more easily…
"There are some practices that do this very well, and where you'll her many fewer complaints about access. It's not a one-size-fits-all.
"So one of the other things we're looking to do is develop a best practice guide so we can encourage all practices to learn from the experience of the best. Inevitably, some for example small single-handed practices have less capacity than some of the larger partner practices…
"We need to try and provide support and guidance as well as trying to move ahead in terms of moving towards minimum standards.
"We won't be geting there this year but we hope to at least set a brenchplate this year in the contract negotiations."
You can fill in the survey by typing this into your search bar: shorturl.at/1Ga6Y