Practice staff are “devastated” that a promised three year funding settlement for the NHS in Northern Ireland cannot be delivered, a senior GP has warned. Ministers had proposed to increase spending in the region by 10% over three years, adding £21 billion to NHS budgets, helping to tackle record waiting times. However, the region’s power-sharing…

Practice leaders in Northern Ireland say they are “confident” the region will see improvements after the regional government put extra cash into primary care. The region’s government has doubled the cash it is putting into new phone systems for practices to help them manage patient demand. It is also setting aside £3.8 million to help…

A practice in Northern Ireland has been named practice of the year after its staff were praised for dealing with all queries in a “helpful, caring and understanding manner.” Doctors, nurses and staff in reception at the Greenway Practice, Belfast, all gained praise from the patient who nominated it to the Royal College of GPs…

GPs in Northern Ireland face soaring costs from legal claims following a major technical adjustment to the calculation system, a defence union has warned. The proposals have been brought forward by the region’s Department of Justice and would mean massively escalating costs for lifetime awards. The Medical Defence Union warned this could mean an increase…

Practices in Northern Ireland have been told to cease giving flu vaccines to patients under 65s because of “phenomenal” demand. Practices have been running clinics in church halls, community centres and car parks to comply with the government plan to extend the vaccination campaign this year. In common with other parts of the UK, the…

Practices may find themselves dealing with increasing numbers of problems linked to deteriorating mental health caused by the pandemic lockdown, GPs have warned. The Royal College of GPs Northern Ireland branch reported growing concern about the effect on the mental health of many practice patients. It cited redundancies, alcohol abuse, domestic violence and disrupted grief…

Some GPs in Northern Ireland are unable to carry out remote patient consultations because of a lack of access to basic IT hardware and software, according to a survey. The technology survey released by the Royal College of GPs in Northern Ireland, with just over 100 respondents, found that about 40% of GPs said they…