Call to match England's GP funds boost

  BMA Northern Ireland is calling on the incoming Northern Ireland Assembly and the next health minister to increase funding for general practice in line with England, or face the prospect of GP practice closures. The call comes after the Department of Health in England announced the most significant and comprehensive package of proposals to support general practice in the country since 2004. The proposals, which were announced following sustained lobbying by the BMA GPs committee in England, include: Recurrent spend in general practice to be increased by £2.4bn back to 10.4 per cent or more of NHS England's healthcare budget by 2020/21 The introduction of a practice-resilience programme; a commitment to address rising indemnity costs and the need for an expansion of the workforce Initiatives to encourage GP retention support to reduce unnecessary burdens on general practice.   Closure threat Responding to the NHS England announcement BMA NI GPs committee chair Tom Black called on the next mandate of the Northern Ireland Assembly and the new health minister to increase the funding for general practice in Northern Ireland in line with England 'as a matter of urgency'. 'While we are delighted for our colleagues in England at this funding news, primary care in Northern Ireland is still living with the very real and ever increasing threat of GP practices closing down as doctors retire and cannot be replaced. 'Funding in Northern Ir...
Source: BMA News - Category: UK Health Source Type: news