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 week.

An 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 it.

Speaking in the Assembly on Monday, Mike Nesbitt said negotiations had reached "an endpoint" and there would no further offer to doctors.

He 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 system.

The 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 funding.

Nesbitt 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 offer.

Mr Nesbitt told assembly members budgetary pressures were at an all-time high.

Reacting to Nesbitt's announcement, BMA NI GP committee chair Dr Frances O'Hagan, said it was the first time a health minister in Northern Ireland has chosen to impose this on doctors.

"To say we are shocked and angry at this decision would be an understatement," she said.

Dr O'Hagan said that GPs in Northern Ireland have been highlighting problems with increasing demand and insufficient resources, and the instalment of the contract will be the "status quo".

"All GPs want to do is deliver a service to their patients that meets their needs," she added.

"The funding we require would not only do that, but it would also provide the level of access they deserve, and we want to give - the contract being imposed by the minister will not allow us to do that."

The BMA decided to ballot its members after it said negotiations on the 2025-26 GP contract with the department stalled.

Dr O'Hagan said the offer was not "enough to stabilise or save general practice in Northern Ireland" and could lead to more GP contracts being handed back and some practices unable to remain financially viable.

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.

"The results of our referendum were extremely clear: 99.6% of GPs do not think the contract offer that is now being imposed is enough to stabilise or save general practice in Northern Ireland," Dr O'Hagan said on Monday.

"We will now consult with our members to decide the next steps."

Mr 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.

He added that it would be "perverse" for industrial action to be considered following this announcement.