Northern Ireland GP practice numbers fall by 9% in eight years

The number of registered patients per practice has risen by around 17% in the same period

The number of GP practices in Northern Ireland has fallen by more than 9% in eight years, according to the Department of Health.

There were 317 surgeries at the end of March this year compared to 350 in 2014.

This is two fewer than the previous year.

The Western Trust has the largest decrease in GP practices - a fall of 16% over the past eight years.

The number of registered patients per practice has risen by about 17% - from 5,500 to 6,439 in the same period.

Despite the decrease in practices, the number of GPs, excluding locums, has gone up by almost 23% to 1,448 since 2014, with an increase of 29 GPs in the past year.

These figures are in relation to overall headcount and not full-time equivalent posts, so they do not show the breakdown of those working part-time.

Of the total number of GPs, six in 10 are women.

This is a notable change since 2014 when the majority were male.

Dr Alan Stout said there was an "utter inability" to deal with callers

Dr Alan Stout, co-chair of the British Medical Association's GP committee, said the figures show evidence of huge pressures on GP services.

He said there are fewer practices to meet the need of a growing population in Northern Ireland.

"Add to this the changing demography, the ageing population and the increasing complexity of patients being seen in primary care and the challenge is obvious.

"The increase in GP headcount gives a hint of solution but in reality has resulted in less clinical sessions mainly because of the pressures.

"We must do everything to try to retain and enhance our workforce."

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Northern Ireland has the second-highest number of GPs per 100,000 registered population in the UK - Scotland has the highest.

In the last financial year, there were approximately 54,000 new (first-time) patients registered to Northern Ireland GP practices.

This is a rise of 2,000 in the past year.

Of these new patients, 36% were non-UK nationals, with more than half of them based in Belfast (52%).