Latest news with #FrancesOHagan
BBC News
04-07-2025
- Health
- BBC News
GP partners in Northern Ireland vote for collective action over funding
GP partners in Northern Ireland have voted in favour of taking collective action as part of their fight for increased funding for general 80% of GP partners who are British Medical Association (BMA) members took part in the ballot of which 98.7% voted in favour of medics' trade union said this will see GP practices withdrawing some non-funded services which will take time away from patient NI GP committee chair, Dr Frances O'Hagan, said the result sent a "clear and unequivocal message" to Health Minister Mike Nesbitt. "We have been warning for well over a decade now that general practice was not being funded to meet the needs of growing patient lists and that failure to act on this would have consequences on patient care," she said."Frustratingly, these warnings have fallen on deaf ears." Dr O'Hagan said the health minister "wants to shift healthcare services into the community where general practice sits at the core" and hopes to achieve this "by imposing an under-funded contract and publicly dismissing GPs' valid concerns on how this will impact patients in these very same communities". "It is demoralising and has left GPs with no choice but to vote in favour of collective action."Dr O'Hagan said the "imposed contract would serve to work against improving patient access". GPs 'left with no choice' She called on the health minister to "act urgently" and resume contract negotiations."Not one GP who voted in favour of collective action wants to have to go down this road, but they feel they have been left with no choice."The minister needs to demonstrate that he values general practice and that he has our backs by coming back to the negotiating table with an improved 2025/2026 contract offer." The BMA had made a number of proposed collective actions in relation to the included:Limiting daily patient consultations per clinician to the UEMO (European Union of General Practitioners) recommended safe maximum of 25Serving notice on any voluntary activityCeasing completion of unfunded paperworkSwitching off Medicines Optimisation Software In a statement on Friday morning, the Department of Health said it had "not yet received formal confirmation from the BMA of the outcome, nor of the specific measures that will comprise the collective action".It said that it would be "important that GPs continue to adhere to the terms of their contract while taking any action, that there is no negative impact on patient safety and that access to service are maintained"."The department recognises that primary care system is under considerable, sustained pressure and GPs and their teams are working hard but are struggling to meet the demand from patients."It added that the financial challenges facing the Department of Health are well-known and in "that context, the £9.5m in additional funding included in the 2025/26 GMS contract represented the best possible offer the department could make for 2025/26"."It is a matter of regret that the department has not been able to reach agreement in relation to the 2025/26 GMS contract."The department said the health minister "remains open to discussion as to how best to secure the future of general practice so that it can remain a central part of primary care services now and in the future". It said it had "already written to NIGPC inviting them to engage in formal negotiations to develop a new GMS contract", and that it "has not yet had a response to this offer".
BBC News
19-05-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Mike Nesbitt to impose GP surgery funding after union rejects offer
The health minister has imposed a disputed financial package on Northern Ireland GPs after they rejected the deal last overwhelming number of those who took part in the British Medical Association (BMA) referendum on the Department of Health (DoH) proposal for core funding for services voted against in the Assembly on Monday, Mike Nesbitt said negotiations had reached "an endpoint" and there would no further offer to said the money he was offering had been hard to source and the time for "general open-ended discussions is over". The minister added he would not sign off on "catastrophic cuts" to fill funding gaps in the healthcare union said its demands included urgent money to address the rise in costs as a result of increased national insurance contributions and a 1% uplift in core said a package of £9.5m additional funding was offered to GPs and said he was "disappointed" the BMA negotiators recommended to their members that they reject the offer.A total of 99.6% of GPs who took part in the referendum voted to reject the Nesbitt told assembly members budgetary pressures were at an all-time high. Union calls for 'credible offer' Last week, BMA NI GP committee chair, Dr Frances O'Hagan, said GPs in Northern Ireland "do not think this offer is enough to stabilise or save general practice in Northern Ireland".The BMA decided to ballot its members after it said negotiations on the 2025-26 GP contract with the department has warned that there may be more GP contracts handed back and some practices unable to remain financially viable. The BMA has called on the DoH to return to the negotiating table with a "credible offer".As part of the referendum, GPs were asked if they were willing to take further, collective action if a better offer was not presented, with 89% of respondents indicating they would be willing to do so.A total of 1,381 people voted in the referendum, about 65% of eligible Nesbitt said that when he took up post the last thing he was looking for was "a fight" and he had huge respect for healthcare staff, including GPs.
BBC News
14-05-2025
- Health
- BBC News
NI Health: Doctors reject GP surgery funding proposals
A vote by doctors over funding for GP surgeries by the Department of Health has been rejected. Members of the medics' trade union, the British Medical Association (BMA), held a referendum on whether to accept a government proposal for core funding for services. A total of 99.6% of GPs who took part in the referendum voted to reject the offer. The BMA said its demands included urgent money to address the rise in costs because of increased national insurance contributions and a 1% uplift in core Tuesday Health Minister Mike Nesbitt announced a funding package to help health employers mitigate against the rise in National Insurance costs. The BMA decided to ballot its members after it said negotiations on the 2025-26 GP contract with the Department of Health has warned that there may be more GP contracts handed back and some practices unable to remain financially NI GP committee chair, Dr Frances O'Hagan, said the result of the referendum was "extremely clear". "GPs in Northern Ireland do not think this offer is enough to stabilise or save general practice in NI," she said. Dr O'Hagan said the £5 million offered "for indemnity will not fully cover the costs GPs incur and which they propose to restrict to GP partners only, and a contribution to the increased national insurance costs may not be enough to cover the actual cost to GPs".She has called on Nesbitt and the Department to return to the negotiating table with a "credible offer".She has written to the minister requesting an urgent meeting with him. "GPs are as, if not more, frustrated as patients with the level of access we can provide with the current funding – additional funding into core general practice will allow practices to hire more staff including more GPs and this will provide more access."As part of the referendum, GPs were asked if they were willing to take further, collective action if a better offer was not presented, with 89% of respondents indicating they would be willing to do so. A total of 1,381 people voted in the referendum, about 65% of eligible Department of Health has been contacted for comment.
