Will team-based primary care ease pressure across the health and care system in Northern Ireland?
Two areas of Northern Ireland have been chosen to take forward a major initiative to transform primary care to enable more patients to be treated closer to home.
GP federations in Down and Derry/Londonderry will be the first to have practice-based multi-disciplinary teams, meaning that patients will be treated by a wider range of health and social care professionals.
The aim is to transform the focus of care with practice teams supported to identify opportunities for early intervention and to help patients manage their own conditions.
The Department of Health’s permanent secretary Richard Pengelly said this was an important step in Northern Ireland’s transformation journey.
It is expected that around 200 additional members of staff will be recruited across the two regions (which cover some 275,000 patients in total) and new services are expected to be in place in the next few months.
Further information
Department of Health NI: New era in GP care begins