New deal with GPs should make it easier to get appointments, says Health Minister
Patients should find it easier to get appointments with their doctors after a new contract was agreed with GPs, the Health Minister has said.
Over the past few years people across Northern Ireland have complained of difficulty getting seen by their local doctor’s surgery, raising issues such as a very limited number of available appointments filling up quickly, or having to wait days or even weeks.
Some surgeries now have a system in which patients have to phone first thing in the morning with appointments only available that day, with people in need winding up held in a queue for a protracted period of time only to be told all available slots are gone and to try again the following day.
According to Health Minister Robbie Butler, however, a new deal with a provincewide body that oversees GPs should improve patient access.
Negotiations between the Department of Health and the Northern Ireland General Practitioners Committee (NIPGC) ended with a new contract worth over £17m, the minister said.
And there’s going to be an investment splurge by the department of £40m over the next two years, to cover “measurable improvements in patient access and primary care activity” agreed as part of the deal.
Said Mr Butler: “The new contract and additional investment of £20m in each of the next two years is a clear signal of my commitment to General Practice, and to improving access for patients.
“Difficulties getting an appointment with their GP is one of the issues people raise with me the most, which is why during negotiations I have been very clear that the financial package must deliver more appointments and services for people who need them.
“I am therefore pleased the NIGPC has committed to making it easier for patients to access General Practice, and to take part in the neighbourhood model of health and wellbeing. This is great news because the neighbourhood model brings services together, strengthens care in the community and designs the system around the people who use it.
“I also welcome NIGPC’s commitment to rebuild a constructive working relationship with the department and to end current collective action.
“My officials will work with NIGPC on how best to use the extra funding to sustain General Practice, including its role in the neighbourhood health model.”