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REPORT


Pharmacists ready to help out as Northern Ireland


faces GP shortage The GP shortage situation in Northern Ireland is now so dire, the British Medical Association has come forward to describe the issue as being at ‘crisis point.’


A


British Medical Association report in February 2015 said Northern Ireland needs 46


more GPs trained per year in order to meet gaps in the workforce.


It is believed six surgeries are at high risk of collapse this year alone, with a further 20 expected to close in 2016.


The reason being that Northern Ireland is not training enough GPs. Fresh fears of the workforce crisis were also raised after the number of family doctors in the UK applying for certificates enabling them to work abroad has increased by almost 50% since 2008.


Many are escaping to Australia for the shorter working hours and higher wage, but concerns have been voiced over the "waste of investment" in doctors who leave without benefiting patients in Northern Ireland.


According to the General Medical Council (GMC), the number of GPs in the UK who requested 'certificates of current professional status' from the regulator, which allows them to practise oversees, has increased from


BMA Chair Dr Tom Black


576 in 2008 when records began to 822 in 2014.


In the first six months of 2015, 418 GPs applied for a permit to work abroad out of a total of 2,680 doctors.


Earlier this year it emerged there are more than 250 trained GPs from Queen's University who are currently in Australia, Canada and other Commonwealth countries.


Figures show that over the past decade, the number of registered patients has risen by 125,182 from 1.8m in 2004/05 to 1.92m in 2013/14 - an average increase per surgery from 4,948 to 5,474. The number of GP surgeries in Northern Ireland has also fallen to just 351 - down from 366 in 2005 - and the lowest number since 1991.


Aside from putting in place a GP workforce plan, one additional solution for the Government is to make better use of the community pharmacy sector.


Many representative bodies are calling on the Department of Health to


recognise that pharmacists can make a bigger contribution to the health service and alleviate the pressure on GPs.


“In the past, there has never been a defined medicines management role between pharmacists and GPs. This often led to duplication of work and frustration between professions. UCA hope is that, through the Department’s medicines optimisation strategy that the medicine's pathway will be developed around the needs of the patient and that boundaries of care and roles within this are defined and made clear. Hospital pharmacist, GP, practice pharmacist and the community pharmacist all have a role in this but these roles will need developed as the strategy is implemented,” said Ulster Chemist Association President Killian Johnston.


BMA Northern Ireland Council Chair John Woods says, “The BMA has consistently said that more needs to be done for general practice and there is a need for action.


“Earlier this year, additional funding was announced. However, the majority of this was in the form of loans for GP premises and did not tackle the issues that need to be addressed, including the recruitment of GPs.


“Some GP practices have already closed and more will follow unless proper protective measures are put in place.”


The BMA Northern Ireland GPs committee has set up a working group to look for practices at risk of collapse and find ways to support them, with the Health and Social Care Board.


“However, we need to see recurrent investment rather than short-term injections of cash if there is to be real progress made in protecting general practice,” he added.


24 pharmacyinfocus.co.uk


BMA Chair Dr Tom Black echoed these sentiments. Earlier this month, Health Minister Simon Hamilton announced the creation of a cross-cutting working group to look at the issues facing GP- led primary care services in Northern Ireland.


Recognising the challenges facing patients in securing timely GP appointments, the group will look at both short term and long term measures to ensure citizens in Northern Ireland can continue to access world class primary healthcare advice, treatment and facilities.


“We have been highlighting for many years the pressures faced by general practice including ever increasing workloads from both patient demand and from work being shifted into the community from Trusts, the chronic under-funding of Out of Hours services as well as the need to address the recruitment and retention of GPs,” says Dr Black.


“We are pleased the Minister has taken our concerns on board and hopefully this group will help address these workload and workforce issues, as well as looking at how best GP federations in Northern Ireland can be used to address the crisis in primary care. We would also hope to see the pharmacists in practice scheme implemented as quickly as possible.


“The BMA’s general practitioners committee is totally committed to general practice throughout Northern Ireland and we hope that this group will help us see an improvement in the challenges GPs face on a daily basis.”


There has, however, been no official confirmation from the Department that Pharmacy is to be represented on the Group, a move which Dr Black would welcome.


“There is more and more pressure in the waiting rooms and community pharmacists are ideally placed to


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