Fewer general practices are operating in Northern Ireland

As reported by the BBC News, The number of GP practices in Northern Ireland has fallen by approximately 9% over the past eight years according to the Department of Health

In March 2022 there were 319 surgeries in Northern Ireland, compared to 350 in 2014. Over the same period of time, the number of patients per practice rose by 15% (from 5,500 to 6,340).

The number of GPs, excluding locums, also increased by 20%, to 1,419.

There were more than 2m individuals registered with a GP practice in Northern Ireland at the end of March this year. Between 2021-22, 30% of first-time patients registered in Northern Ireland were non-UK nationals.

During that year, the Health and Social Care’s Business Services Organisation (BSO) processed payments of £342.7m towards the overall cost of GP services here.

The average BSO payment per registered patient was £169, this is an increase of £11 per patient compared to the previous year.

Chairman of the British Medical Association’s NI GP committee, Dr Alan Stout, commented on the worrying picture the figures painted for the future of general practice in the country.

“We can clearly see the pressures faced by GPs in the last few years have had an impact; there are now fewer practices across Northern Ireland, yet they are having to deal with more patients,” Dr Stout said.

“We need to see a faster roll out of the MDTs [multidisciplinary teams], continued increase in training numbers, changes to pension taxation to prevent GPs retiring early, an indemnity solution for Northern Ireland to match the rest of the UK and a significant investment in our premises, many of which are substandard.

“It is also worth noting that the £11 increase per patient is not a sum that goes directly to practices, it incudes an investment in the wider health system, which is the right direction of travel but we still need the staff and the premises to support it.”