To ask the Minister of Health to detail the obligations of GPs to provide appointments for patients as set out in their contract with the NHS.

GPs are independent contractors who contract with the Health and Social Care Board to provide primary medical services to their patients. As independent contractors, GPs are responsible for the day to day management of their practice, including patient appointment arrangements. The framework for the GMS contract, including the provision of services, is set out in the Health and Personal Social Services (General Medical Services Contract) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2004:

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/nisr/2004/140/contents/made

Regulation 15 (Part 5) provides information on the management of registered patients, which includes:

offering consultation and, where appropriate, physical examination for the purpose of identifying the need, if any, for treatment or further investigation; and

the making available of such treatment or further investigation as is necessary and appropriate, including the referral of the patient for other services and liaison with other health care professionals involved in the patient’s treatment and care.

GP practices are open and providing both face to face appointments and alternative consultation options for patients as appropriate. The general practice telephone first consultation allows patients to seek timely medical advice from their GP for both routine and urgent problems. The GP determines the most appropriate approach to safely addressing the patient’s needs using their clinical expertise. The GP decides, based on their assessment, if a face to face appointment is appropriate, if the patient can be managed over the telephone or if they should be signposted or directed to other appropriate services. This approach helps the GP to appropriately manage, treat and support the large number of people who seek clinical support and advice from primary care practitioners.

Primary Care’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the implementation of new and innovative ways of working that were already ongoing to enable General Practice, along with all other areas within the health and social care system, to react quickly and adapt flexibly to the demands and challenges of the pandemic.

The use of more innovative ways of working, including telephone and video consultations, is now widely embedded and the model of Primary Care will continue to transform to meet growing patient demand with technology and new ways of working playing an important role alongside existing arrangements, such as face to face appointments, which will continue to be available to GPs to safely manage patient care.