URGENT investment is needed to prevent GP services being privatised a local MLA has warned after the British Medical Association (BMA) highlighted services are severely underfunded and under threat.
People Before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll said urgent investment was needed to sustain GP practices in West Belfast following warnings by Dr Tom Black of the BMA.
“This is not the first time that doctors have warned of the collapse of NHS care at GP practices,” The West Belfast MLA said.
“The government has had ample warning that the current funding model could see patients denied basic healthcare. In our view, this has been a Tory policy decision to purposefully defund the NHS and force GP practices towards private care.
“Patients are already struggling to get a GP appointment to see their GP and the situation will only get worse without urgent investment and funding interventions.
“There is still time to further expand and then fully integrate GP services into our NHS for the benefit of health workers and patients. We need a system where GPs are employed by health service, instead of allowing them to stand and fall as independent business owners.”
