Royal College of GPS publishes recommendations to retain NI staff

THE Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) has revealed its plan to try to keep staff in Northern Ireland, as many are choosing to work abroad.

In 2023, a record number of GP surgeries in Northern Ireland (14) handed their contracts back, including six in the Northern Trust.

At the time, Dr Alan Stout, chair of the British Medical Association’s Northern Ireland GP committee, said: “General practice is under sustained pressure. There are not enough GPS to meet the rising workload requirements.”

Today, the RCGP announced the publication of its new report, A Workforce Fit For The Future: RCGPNI Retention Strategy, in a bid to retain staff.

“As the foundation of the health service in Northern Ireland, general practice has shouldered the burden of escalating demand, a declining workforce, and real-terms funding cuts to a point of geographical destabilisation never seen before,” said the RCGP upon publication.

“Urgent action is needed to preserve and protect the existing general practice workforce.”

The report has made 10 recommendations to the Department of Health to ensure that NI “compares favourably with other regions of the UK and the Republic of Ireland as an attractive place to work”.

They include the launch of a state-backed GP indemnity scheme for NI; to invest in further support for practices at risk of contract hand-back; and improve support for practice mergers. State-backed GP indemnity schemes, which refers to a contractual obligation of one party to compensate the loss incurred by another party, were launched in 2019 for England, Scotland and Wales — but not NI, following extensive BMA lobbying and contract negotiations.

The RCGP has also recommended investing in and modifying GP retention schemes to “ensure more flexibility and greater financial stability for practices and to support GPS across all career stages to remain in practice”.

In NI, the average salary for a partner in a GP practice is around £92,300; in England, it’s around £98,000.

Other recommendations include commissioning a practitioner health programme to support clinicians in crisis

across NI, as well as providing support for GPS and practices on recruiting staff who require a Health and Care Worker visa.

The college’s report has also suggested the Department of Health work with the Government to secure solutions to pensions that are equitable across all UK nations.

It has also recommended that “specific schemes” are launched for “later-career GPS” through education, mentoring and leadership roles.

In 2020, the average age of GPS here was 45 years old.

Other recommendations include ensuring that practices in areas of “contract instability” are not further disadvantaged by “having to compete for locum cover with Trust-run practices offering hugely inflated fees for sessional work”.

Providing additional support for newly qualified GPS to take up substantive posts in practice was also noted.

Commenting on the report, Dr Ursula Mason, a GP in Carryduff and chair of RCGPNI, said: “We know that general practice needs investment in a sustainable funding model and a properly enacted and resourced workforce plan in the long-term, but there are actions that could be taken in the short- to medium-term that would make a real difference.

“We need to provide tailored interventions to make working as a GP in NI more attractive across all career stages.

“We need a practitioner health programme to support clinicians in crisis amid increasing rates of burnout.

“We need tangible interventions addressing the burden of workload in general practice, to improve the efficiency and safety of our services, and the provision of support for practices at risk of collapse.

“Ultimately, improving the retention of our GP workforce is about keeping general practice afloat and being able to provide the safe, effective and person-centred care which all patients need and deserve. I commend these findings now to decision-makers to take action.”

Meanwhile, the Department of Health yesterday confirmed that it had appointed a new contractor providing GP services to the patients of Larne Medical Practice, with effect from May 1.

A letter will be sent to the patients registered with the practice in the coming days.

The previous contractor terminated its contract in October 2023.

‘Make the job more attractive across all career stages’