GPs 'Frustrated' By NI Health Service

Family doctors from across Northern Ireland have expressed their frustration at the lack of commissioning of health services in Northern Ireland.



Speaking at the annual conference of GPs held yesterday, Londonderry doctor Martin McCloskey said: "GPs want to use their skills and experience to improve the health service in Northern Ireland, yet the Health and Social Care Board has seemingly proved to be incapable of providing services.

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These sentiments were echoed by Dr David Ross from Saintfield Health Centre who expressed his "frustration at the ongoing lack of commissioning plan". 



Larne GP Brian Dunn, Chairman of the BMA's GP committee added: "We support commissioning, but decisions need to be taken, such as those that would see money diverted to secondary care into primary care".



Doctors also called for transparency and accountability within the commissioning process for patients' services.

At the same event, the GPs hit out at mental health services.

The GPs were unanimous in their condemnation of the provision of out of hours responsive services for adolescents with mental health emergencies, with BMA GP Chairman Dr Brian Dunn branding child and adolescent mental health services "a disgrace".

"Why is there no service reactive to the needs of vulnerable young people out of hours when they are feeling suicidal?" asked Dr Allen McCullough, a GP from Antrim.

Concerns were raised too about out of hours services with Dr Eugene Deeny, a GP based in Fermanagh, commenting: "I have watched with increasing uneasiness as to how GP out of hours is changing. There are pernickety protocols and box ticking, but little attention paid by management to things such as staffing to meet demand.

"Patient safety will suffer," said Dr Deeny, "and things will only get worse if proposals to centralise the service take place. The out of hours service needs to be kept local."

During the course


 of the conference many other issues were addressed including community nursing, waiting times and alcohol pricing.



(BMcN/BMcC)