More than 30,000 call on minister to help GPs

More than 30,000 people have signed a petition calling on the Northern Ireland health minister to address what the organisation calls the 'escalating crisis' in general practice here.

The signatures, on a British Medical Association petition, were presented to the floor of the Assembly this week by the chair of the health committee, Paula Bradley MLA.

The petition was launched in July after the release of BMA Northern Ireland’s report.

It revealed that 74% of practices are struggling and nearly 10% are “barely coping” due to escalating problems such as growing patient list sizes, serious staffing gaps, growing paper work and bureaucracy.

The petition was signed by patients for six weeks in GP surgeries and calls on the health minister to invest more money in GP services, train more GPs, reduce bureaucracy and improve IT systems to free up more time for patients.