AN SDLP councillor has questioned workforce planning around GPs in the Belfast area.
Councillor Brian Heading was speaking after being contacted by constituents who said they were unable to register at a new surgery.
Mr Heading said as GPs retire, surgeries were finding it more difficult to recruit new doctors, putting the long-term future of GP surgeries at risk.
SDLP Health Spokesperson Colin McGrath and Councillor Heading have arranged a meeting with the Permanent Secretary at the Department of Health to discuss the issue which has been brought into sharp focus in the past week.
“A number of GP services in this area are currently not accepting new patients as they are already under huge pressure trying to manage their existing caseload," Cllr Heading said.
"In West Belfast and across the North we have seen a large number of GPs retire with nobody recruited to replace them and this has resulted in both services and surgeries themselves being threatened."
Cllr Heading added that the GP workforce is ageing and unless steps are taken now to replenish the workforce the situation is going to get much worse in years to come.
"GPs and all of our health staff went above and beyond during the coronavirus pandemic to keep people safe and carry out their jobs admirably under a great deal of pressure, but as the number of GPs declines there are fewer doctors to meet demand and we are seeing the knock-on impact this is having with more and more people attending emergency departments in order to access treatment for what in many cases is a non-urgent condition," he said.
“This is not something that has happened or can be resolved overnight, and there are serious questions to answer around why the situation was allowed to get to this stage.
"We need to see a proper strategy in place to attract people to work as GPs so that practices can remain open to serve the local community.
"The SDLP has been at the forefront of this issue in recent years, securing the Magee Medical School in Derry, but we need an Executive and Assembly to get to grips with the issue and the DUP’s refusal to do their jobs kicks the can further down the road for people who need GP access now.”
