MLAs join forces to highlight local GP crisis

SOUTH Antrim MLA Pam Cameron led a timely debate on local GP access and funding concerns at the Assembly this week.

The DUP rep used an adjournment debate to highlight ‘growing concerns’ across the constituency.

Mrs Cameron outlined increasing pressures on GP services driven by population growth in towns such as Antrim and Ballyclare, alongside a reduction in the number of GP practices across Northern Ireland.

She stressed that while demand continues to rise, funding for general practice has failed to keep pace, with only a small proportion of the overall health budget allocated to GP services despite them delivering millions of patient contacts each year.

And she warned that without a sustainable funding settlement, pressures on GP access will ‘continue to worsen’.

Mrs Cameron also highlighted examples raised directly by local people, including difficulties getting through to GP practices, challenges faced by working families and cases where patients were forced to seek hospital care due to a lack of GP capacity.

She also highlighted the important role community pharmacies play in easing pressure on GP services, while stressing that pharmacies must be properly supported if they are expected to take on additional responsibilities.

Mrs Cameron called on the Health Minister for continued engagement and practical action to ensure GP services across South Antrim are ‘properly funded, accessible and sustainable for the future’.

At the debate, Alliance South Antrim MLA John Blair thanked Mrs Cameron for bringing the important issue to the floor of the Assembly.

And he went on to echo her concerns about the challenges faced by the sector.

“First, I record my sincere thanks to the doctors, nurses and wider staff who provide GP services across South Antrim with such care and compassion,” he said.

“Their dedication often goes unrecognised. Yet they work under immense pressure, with rising demand and limited resources, and they deserve our respect and support.

“Our population in South Antrim is growing, with new housing, an ageing population and more people living with long-term conditions.

“Our health service must keep pace, or our constituents will pay the price through increased frustration and pressure.

“It is for the Health Minister and his Department to ensure that access to GP services in South Antrim, and across Northern Ireland, is improved and sustained. As MLAs, however, we hear directly from those affected when that access is not there.

“Like many of my South Antrim colleagues, I am routinely contacted by constituents who struggle to get a GP appointment or who are stuck on waiting lists for what they describe as an eternity.

“People phone at 8am, redial repeatedly, only to be told that all appointments are gone. Others wait weeks to be seen for issues causing real distress.

“Too often, people are left in pain or anxiety, unsure where to turn.

“GP practices are the front door to our health service and central to prevention and early intervention. They deliver initial cancer testing, antenatal and postnatal care, vaccinations, chronic disease management, and mental health support, among many other services.

“When people cannot access these services promptly and consistently, we miss chances to diagnose earlier, intervene sooner and prevent conditions from worsening.

“Access to such care is not a luxury; it is fundamental to safe and effective healthcare.

“We need GP services that are accessible and sustainable, regardless of where in South Antrim someone lives.

“That means timely appointments, well-staffed practices and clear, consistent systems for contacting surgeries.

“Avoiding unnecessary hospital admissions is key to relieving pressure on the wider health service. When people cannot get a GP appointment, many end up in overstretched emergency departments or out-of-hours services, often with conditions that could have been managed in primary care if capacity existed.

“That is not good for patients, staff or the public purse.

“There are wider structural issues we cannot ignore, also. For example, across Northern Ireland, fewer people are entering or remaining in the medical profession, including general practice. Pay, workload and burnout all contribute.

“The NHS is vital to our society, and the Alliance Party remains committed to prioritising it.

“I look forward to the Minister providing an update on efforts to improve GP access in South Antrim.”

DUP MLA Trevor Clarke said the situation was grave - and was getting worse.

“For far too long, people across South Antrim are telling me that they simply cannot get a GP appointment.

“This is not about one individual GP surgery. This problem is now widespread and exists right across the system. Even before Covid, access to GP appointments was an issue, but it has unquestionably deteriorated over time.

“I remember when you went to your local surgery, took a seat, and waited for your turn. You might not have known how long the wait would be, but you were always seen. This no longer exists.

“While the anger and frustration felt by patients are entirely understandable, we must also be clear about where responsibility lies.

“Receptionists and frontline staff answering the phones are not to blame. They are operating within systems and working practices set above them, and they should not bear the brunt of public anger for a systemic failure.

“Obvious problems are that we are a country with a growing population, an ageing population with more complex health needs, as well as intense competition to recruit and retain GPs, many of whom are being actively attracted by opportunities elsewhere in the UK and internationally.

“However, like every Department, the buck ultimately stops with the Health Minister.

“The Health Minister’s relationship with the GP profession have significantly deteriorated. In November 2025, GP leaders formally expressed no confidence in the Minister following the imposition of the 2025/26 GP contract, after 99.6% of voting GPs rejected it.

“The Health Minister has since been accused by GP representatives of “declaring war on GPs’, while practices openly explore Plan B options outside the NHS due to what they describe as unsustainable workload and funding pressures.

“While the Minister has stated he will not allow direct patient charges, he has also admitted he cannot prevent GPs moving towards a private model.

“Nobody understands our Health Service better than our GPs on the frontline. A respectful relationship is needed.

“I will therefore be calling on the Health Minister to rebuild his relationships with our GPs. Constant fighting and disagreement will only encourage more GPs to leave our shores, not remain.

“Patients deserve better.”

Sinn Féin MLA Declan Kearney has agreed that there are ‘serious issues’ with GP services across South Antrim which must be addressed through urgent investment.

He gave his scathing assessment after the debate in the Assembly on primary care within his constituency.

“There is a stark inconsistency in the quality and efficiency of GP services across South Antrim, leaving access to a GP, particularly in some urban settings, virtually impossible.

“I have heard from, and advocated on behalf of constituents who repeatedly experience difficulty in even speaking with a receptionist on some surgery switchboards.

“This leaves patients being forced to attend the already under pressure Emergency Department in Antrim Area Hospital, or worse, resorting to self-diagnosis and self-medication.

“By contrast, other local GP practices provide exemplary services for their patients.

“Considerable investment in GP services is required from the Health Minister, alongside targeted support for areas suffering from poor access to a GP.

“This is essential to restoring public confidence in GP services, and ensuring people can depend upon consistent, high standards of local healthcare, in order to avoid additional pressures being placed on hospital services.”