New General Medical Services Contract Agreed For GPs

The Department of Health has announced a new agreement on the General Medical Services(GMS) contract with GPs for 2024/25.

Health Minister Robin Swann has welcomed the new contract as an important step towards helping to stabilise GP services.

It will provide GPs with greater certainty over their income throughout the year; reducing administrative burdens and associated costs to practices; and providing dedicated funding to practices for the costs of their indemnity.

Non-core elements of the GMS contract are subject to negotiation on an annual basis, to ensure the contract reflects the needs of the NI population and provides the basis for the continued provision of high-quality GP services to patients here.

The representative body for GPs in Northern Ireland, the BMA's Northern Ireland General Practitioners Committee (NIGPC), has worked constructively with the Department to reach agreement on an approach to the 2024/25 contract.

Despite the significant challenges facing the health budget, we have been able to reach agreement within the existing GMS budget envelope.

Minister Swann said: "This agreement of the GP contract for 2024/25 is very welcome news. GPs play a vital role in our Health Service, and I have been clear since my return to office that support for GPs and wider primary care is a key priority for me. Stabilising GP services is of crucial importance and I believe this contract is a step forward in that regard. There is, of course, much more work to be done.

"Whilst the budget provided to me by the Executive does not allow me to make a substantial increase in the overall value of the contract, I am pleased that the agreement announced today makes significant progress against key aims identified by GPs in their negotiations, including provision of dedicated funding for their indemnity costs. I would pay tribute to the constructive and imaginative approach taken by NIGPC leadership throughout these negotiations."