Minutes:
The Committee was reminded that, at its meeting in December, it had been agreed that representatives of the Strategic Planning and Performance Group be invited to attend a future meeting of the Committee to present on how they plan to maintain GP services in Belfast, in particular details of future provision based on the Belfast Agenda population growth ambitions, especially in the City Centre where there are limited GP services.
The Chairperson welcomed representatives of the Strategic Planning and Performance Group to the meeting: Mrs L. McIlroy, Head of Business Support (Belfast) and Dr G. Meenan, Medical Adviser (Belfast).
Mrs. McIlroy explained that the Strategic Planning and Performance Group (SPPG) (formerly Health and Social Care Board – HSCB) was part of the Department of Health (DoH) and was accountable to the Minister for Health. It was responsible for improving and overseeing the delivery of effective, high quality, safe health and social care services within available resources. She advised that the Primary Care Directorate managed and sought to develop the services that people received from:
· General Practitioners (GPs);
· Dentists;
· Community Pharmacists; and
· Opticians.
She described the General Medical Services (GMS) Contract and highlighted that the Belfast Local Government District (LGD) had the largest number of GP Practices in Northern Ireland (77 GP Practices) with Belfast LGD having the highest number of GPs per 100,000 registered patients (77.5), more than one third higher than the number in Mid-Ulster LDG (57.2) which has the lowest, with the average across NI being (70.2).
She provided an overview of GP services and the location spread across Belfast, together with Practice Changes since 2020.
She advised that the current challenges in Primary Care included:Access to Services; Workforce Planning and Development; Multi-Disciplinary Teams; Winter Pressure Support; Recruit, Attract, Retainment; and Support Practices in Crisis.
She pointed out that, in moving forward, the Primary Care would need to continue to transform to meet growing patient demand and highlighted that technology and new ways of working would continue to play an important role, alongside existing arrangements. She advised that the increase in demand for Primary Care services could not be met solely by increasing the number of GPs and Agencies must work in partnership to improve social, economic and environmental determinants of health. She advised that SSPG would need to continue to work to evolve the model of telephone-first consultation to provide more flexibility to patients and prioritise urgent access where necessary.
During Members questions, the representatives explained further the volume of GPs across the city and confirmed that 121 GPs had been trained in the last year. They described the work of the recovery team and the practice referral process.
In answer to a Member’s question on the data of full-time equivalent GPs across the city, Mrs McIlroy advised that she would investigate if this data was available and report back to the Committee in due course.
In relation to GP indemnity costs in Northern Ireland, Dr. Meenan reported that there was disparity in Northern Ireland, where GPs were the only GPs in the UK who paid their own indemnity costs, which increased the more they worked.
During further discussion, Dr. Meenan explained the ‘telephone first’ approach in operation in GP Practices which resulted in a mix of face to face and telephone consultations. He pointed out that there were a range of other opportunities where patients were treated, such as prescription requests, treatment rooms and chronic disease management reviews. One Member questioned whether this approach would disproportionately impact certain sectors of society.
Due to time constraints, the representatives advised that they would welcome any further questions the Committee might have.
After discussion, the Chairperson thanked the representatives for their attendance, and they retired from the meeting.
The Committee:
· Noted the information which had been provided and that, where relevant, SPPG would provide further information on the issues raised.
· Agreed to write to the Permanent Secretary to request an update on the work being undertaken to resolve GP indemnity in Northern Ireland.