RCGPNI welcomes PAC report but warns access will not improve without funding

RCGPNI welcomes the Publication of the Public Account Committee’s “Report on access to General Practice in Northern Ireland” but warns improved access is impossible without funding.

The Royal College of General Practitioners Northern Ireland (RCGPNI) has welcomed the Public Account Committee’s (PAC) report on ‘Access to General Practice in Northern Ireland’, launched today following their inquiry in Spring of this year. As part of the inquiry the RCGPNI presented evidence to the committee outlining the significant pressures that General Practice is facing in NI and the urgent need to improve funding and to support the recruitment and retention of GPs.

Dr Ursula Mason, Chair of RCGPNI said,
“This report lays bare the challenges that patients face in accessing GP care and outlines the fragility of services in some areas. We strongly welcome the recommendation for a long overdue General Practice strategy alongside an improved approach to data collection and the use of appropriate data on patient demand and experience to underpin important decisions regarding the GP workforce.”

“Disappointingly, the report fails to outline or indeed address the significant impact that more than a decade of chronic underfunding has had on practice stability and capacity of GPs to deliver care based on the needs of their patients. This is a fundamental gap in the report’s analysis and recommendations. Access to General Practice cannot be improved without investment.”

The NI Audit Office previously identified that only 5.4% of the healthcare budget in 2022/23 was spent on General Practice, with this figure likely to have fallen in subsequent years, and worryingly lower than comparable figures across the UK.

Dr Mason added,
“It is not surprising that more than a third of all practices have sought crisis support over the last five years. A GP partner only makes the difficult decision to hand back their contract when financial sustainability and workforce pressure leaves them no other option. The root causes of contract hand backs need to be addressed. Trust run practices are simply not a sustainable nor cost-effective long-term solution.”

‘We therefore call for an incremental increase in the proportion of the health budget allocated to General Practice, to allow practices to recruit and retain much needed GPs and practice staff to deliver the care that our patients desperately need.’

“The roll out of the Multi-Disciplinary Teams is necessary to address the current postcode lottery of services and stark inequalities, and the implementation of electronic prescribing will improve safety and free up GP time, but neither are a silver bullet. We need a fully costed, funded and importantly enacted strategy for general practice that is grounded in evidence and that supports recruitment and retention of GPs and safeguards continuity of care.”

“General Practice and the independent contractor model remain the most cost-effective part of our health system, but it has been starved of resource. The PAC report recommendations have fallen short in failing to recommend an increase in core funding to properly stabilise and resource general practice. With appropriate investment alongside a resourced strategy, general practice can meet the needs of patients and improve access. Without investment, access will continue to deteriorate and inequalities will widen.'

Further information

For media requests, contact Jill Brennan,
Head of RCGPNI, Jill.brennan@rcgp.org.uk or call 020 3188 7724

Notes to editor

The Royal College of General Practitioners is a network of more than 54,000 family doctors working to improve care for patients. We work to encourage and maintain the highest standards of general medical practice and act as the voice of GPs on education, training, research and clinical standards.