95 per cent of GPs say they worry that lack of resources is putting patient care at risk

95% of GPs say they worry that lack of resources is putting patient care at risk and 98% say that without more resources, waiting times for GP appointments will increase

Almost half (45%) of NI GPs say they are planning to either leave general practice or reduce their hours in the next five years, and family doctors warn of potential future problems with access to general practice, with 15% saying it is unlikely or very unlikely that their current practice will be open in ten years time. In addition, 98% of GPs believe that, without more resources, waiting times for appointments will increase

The new figures from this ComRes poll also reveal that 93% of GPs here agree that their workload affects their ability to deliver high quality patient care.

Reacting to the findings, Chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners NI, Dr John O’Kelly said: “General practice in Northern Ireland is in serious difficulty. We need to see immediate action taken to tackle the challenges that family doctors are currently facing.

“Looking at the survey findings, the feelings of family doctors in NI have been made very clear. GPs are overworked, overtired and worried about being able to deliver sustainable, high quality health services to local communities in the future.

“It is appalling that more than nine in ten (93%) of family doctors feel that their workload affects their ability to deliver high quality patient care. General practice is the cornerstone of our health system and family doctors must be given the adequate tools in order to do their job effectively.

“We need the next Assembly to listen to GPs and invest in primary healthcare. The next Health Minister must reverse the negative trends in general practice and fully implement the recommendations from the GP-led Working Group to ensure the people of Northern Ireland will have the sustainable community-based health care that they deserve.

“We simply do not have enough GPs to manage the increasing demands on the service. RCGP NI has been calling on the government to increase the number of GPs in Northern Ireland by 400 by 2020. Alongside the development of the entire general practice team, this will help ensure that the best quality health care service is available to everyone.

“Being a GP is a challenging, yet most rewarding job but we need sufficient investment in order to allow the service to thrive. The College has consistently laid out why the profession needs 11% of the total health and social care budget in Northern Ireland.

“Such is the scale of the crisis in the primary care sector that 85% of GPs in NI worry that general practice will be unrecognisable as we know it by the time of the 2021 NI Assembly election. NHS England have recently backed general practice by increasing funding to almost 11% of the NHS budget. We need our politicians to commit to allocating this level of resource before we start to see practice closures and diminishing services across the entire region.”

Further Information

RCGP Press office: 020 3188 7574/7575/7581
Out of hours: 0203 188 7659
[email protected]

Notes to editor

The Royal College of General Practitioners is a network of more than 50,000 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.

1. The Royal College of General Practitioners is the largest membership organisation in the United Kingdom solely for GPs. It aims to encourage and maintain the highest standards of general medical practice and to act as the ‘voice’ of GPs on issues concerned with education; training; research; and clinical standards. Founded in 1952, the RCGP has just over 50,000 members who are committed to improving patient care, developing their own skills and promoting general practice as a discipline.
2. Polling was conducted by ComRes on behalf of RCGPNI. 100 GPs in NI were surveyed online between 30 March and 19 April 2016. Full data tables are available at www.comres.co.uk.
3. The RCGP NI election campaign video can be found at http://ift.tt/1QGNa0c
4. If you would like any further information, please contact Clare Higgins on T: 020 3188 7726  E: [email protected]

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95 per cent of GPs say they worry that lack of resources is putting patient care at risk