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Funding offer 'not enough' to save GP surgeries

BBC A woman, with blonde hair, wearing dark blue scrubs. BBC
Dr Frances O'Hagan wants the health minister and the Department of Health to return to the negotiating table

Doctors have rejected a funding offer for GP surgeries from the Department of Health.

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.

Health Minister Mike Nesbitt said a package of £9.5m additional funding was offered to GPs, adding he is "disappointed" the BMA negotiators recommended this outcome to their members.

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 NI".

A total of 99.6% of GPs who took part in the referendum voted to reject the offer.

On Tuesday, 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 stalled.

The association said its demands included urgent money to address the rise in costs because of increased national insurance contributions and a 1% uplift in core funding.

It has warned that there may be more GP contracts handed back and some practices unable to remain financially viable.

Funding offer

Mike Nesbitt, with short grey hair, wearing a navy suit, white shirt, pink tie and glasses.
Health minister Mike Nesbitt says he is "disappointed" at the outcome

In a statement on Wednesday, Nesbitt said there is a "projected half billion pound plus shortfall between available monies and financial requirement across health and social care services".

The package on offer is "at the absolute limit of what is achievable this year", Nesbitt said, adding the offer remains on the table.

The health minister said the offer includes:

  • Funding to address the long-standing issue of GP indemnity
  • Support in relation to increased National Insurance costs
  • £1m for measures that would contribute to addressing concerns over access to GP services
Getty Images A doctor, wearing scrubs and a white coat, sitting at a desk with a clipboard on it. They are holding a pen. The hands of an older person are also visible in the picture. Getty Images
The union warned that under the proposals, there may be more GP contracts handed back and some practices unable to remain financially viable

Dr O'Hagan said £5m 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 voters.