To ask the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail the number of General Practice surgeries in each of the last five years; and how his Department is encouraging young doctors to enter the GP workforce.

The number of general practices by year is as follows;

Whilst the number of practices has reduced, this is primarily as a result of GP Practices merging together.

The number of applications for GP training places in NI regularly far exceeds the number of actual places. In the latest round of applications for courses there were 185 applications for a total of 65 training places which is comparable to the demand experienced for GP training in London.

Under the remit of the regional workforce planning group a medical workforce planning subgroup was established to develop a suite of medical workforce plans, including for GPs, for the five-year period 2013-14 to 2018-19. The GP medical workforce group included representatives of the Health and Social Care Board (HSCB), the Northern Ireland Medical and Dental Training Agency, the Northern Ireland General Practitioners Committee, the Royal College of GPs and my Department. In addition, the HSCB has undertaken further work specifically examining potential initiatives aimed at improving the recruitment and retention of trained GPs. No final decisions will be taken until the Department has considered the findings of those reviews. Increasing the number of GP trainees would, of course, require increased funding, and any decisions would need to take account of the overall financial position of my Department.