Health Minister Michelle O’Neill has announced that a new GP contract provider has been secured for Bannview Practice in Portadown.
Health Minister Michelle O’Neill said: “I am aware of the challenges with the Bannview Practice in Portadown and the work that the Health and Social Care Board has been doing to ensure that the practice’s patients continue to have access to general medical services. I can today confirm that a new contract provider will be in place from early March. Until then, the HSCB will continue to ensure that patients of the Bannview Practice have access to GP services.”
The Minister said: “I made it clear in ‘Health and Wellbeing 2026: Delivering Together’ that primary care is the bedrock of our health and social care system and I gave a commitment to significantly invest in primary care. I also recently accepted the recommendations of the working group that was established to review GP- led care services here.”
The Minister added: “Real progress is being made to address the challenges facing general practice. AskMyGP, the on-line and phone triage system, is currently being rolled out to a further 30 GP practices. The number of GP training places will increase to 111 by 2018/19, a year ahead of the working group’s recommendation. Over 100 Practice Based Pharmacists will also soon be in place in general practice.
“Building multi-disciplinary teams, embedded around general practice, will be key to enabling us to keep people well and pro-actively support them to manage their long term conditions. That is why we are developing new roles such as Advanced Nurse Practitioners and Physician Associates.”
Concluding the Minister said: “I look forward to working with GPs and their representatives in implementing my ambitious plan for improving health and social care.”
Notes to editors:
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