GMC and RCGP call for Northern Irish GP workforce strategy improvements
The GMC and RCGP used their addresses at the inaugural Pulse LIVE Belfast to call for improvements to GP workforce strategies in Northern Ireland.
The GMC address, which opened the conference and was delivered jointly by chair Charlie Massey and chair Dame Carrie McEwen, focused on GP wellbeing and retention.
Particularly, Mr Massey highlighted that too many medical graduates leave Northern Ireland after qualifying.
He told the Pulse conference: ‘Northern Ireland – along with Scotland and Wales – is struggling to keep hold of its medical talent. While 81% of doctors who graduated in 2019 from English medical schools were still working in England in 2024, the figure in Northern Ireland was only 44%.’
That figure was 51% in Scotland and in Wales 31%, the regulator added.
Mr Massey said this comes as the GMC’s latest workplace experiences report shows GPs in Northern Ireland are at ‘significantly higher risk of burnout’ than peers in other medical specialties.
‘This is perhaps not surprising when you consider that they are struggling with workload to a far greater degree, he said.
‘80% of GPs in Northern Ireland found it difficult to provide sufficient patient care at least once a week, compared to 54% across other doctor groups. The vast majority of GPs in Northern Ireland – 92% – are also working beyond their rostered hours at least once a week, compared to 73% of doctors in the country overall.’
He added: ‘A sustainable workforce is crucial to stabilising this fraught picture.’
Mr Massey also highlighted the shift towards a more ‘diverse cohort’ of GPs in Northern Ireland.
‘While only 3% of first-year GP trainees in Northern Ireland came from outside the UK 10 years ago, that proportion shot up to 45% in 2024,’ he said.
But he said that in order to retain this talent in NI for the longer term, more support was needed.
Mr Massey said: ‘Whether or not they have long, fulfilling careers here depends in no small part on the reception they receive, and the degree to which they are made to feel they belong.
‘Doctors cannot perform at their best in circumstances where they are unsupported, unincluded and undermined. For all doctors, no matter their background, the workplace environment has a huge influence on the care they provide. For doctors new to Northern Ireland, it is absolutely decisive.
‘Support and good induction is crucially important to protect the wellbeing and morale of the doctors we rely on to deliver care.’
Adding to that, Dame Carrie said: ‘Having a compassionate workplace culture in place becomes all the more critical when the service is under severe pressure, as it is now.’
Delivering the closing address at Pulse LIVE Belfast, RCGP NI chair Dr Ursula Mason also spoke about the GP workforce and the pressure it faces. She highlighted a growing number of patients which headcount GP numbers have not kept up with, amid a rise in GPs choosing salaried over partner careers.
The job of GPs is ‘the foundation of NHS care’, she argued, with its ‘place and trajectory’ within the system needing to be recognised.
‘But in Northern Ireland… there is no general practice strategy. There is no roadmap or blueprint or call it whatever you like. It doesn’t exist. And I have to say it’s not for the want of people like me trying on a daily basis, because it’s vital. We need to know where we’re going. We need to know what we’re going to be doing, and we need to know how many of us that we’re going to need to be able to do the job.’
Dr Mason also highlighted the impact of burnout on GP retention in Northern Ireland.
‘The RCGP have warned of a mass exodus if retention isn’t prioritised. In a recent survey carried out by the college, 42% of GPS said they were unlikely to be working in general practice in five years’ time.
‘So if you combine that with the figures that we heard earlier this morning [from the GMC] about what’s happening to early career GPS, we are sitting on the precipice of something really, potentially quite existential.’
The next Pulse LIVE conference takes place next Tuesday (18 November) in Liverpool and is worth 4 CPD hours. It is free to attend for GPs and GP registrars.
Visit Pulse Reference for details on 140 symptoms, including easily searchable symptoms and categories, offering you a free platform to check symptoms and receive potential diagnoses during consultations.
