She was speaking after a meeting of the Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee that was hearing evidence on access to General Practice in Northern Ireland.
The DUP MLA said, “Whilst the main focus on Employer National Insurance contributions has obviously been on the impact that will be felt by businesses, I have been exploring the impact it will have on public services. The evidence heard by the PAC in this area was stark.
We were told clearly that this increase will see GP contracts handed back and some practices will close as a result. Even amongst those which do not close it was made clear that there would be a restriction of services as a result because they would have to reduce the numbers of people employed.
GPs are in a particularly difficult situation because they have no other revenue streams open to them. They cannot charge for services, except in an extremely limited number of cases. We have already seen the pressures on GP services in Northern Ireland with contracts handed back and in a number of those cases the practices are now Trust run because there has been no-one there to take over that contract.
We were told that this increase could be “catastrophic” if the additional increases are not met. Given the pressures on our health service, a further restriction of GP services and reduced access will only lead to increased pressures on hospitals and a further worsening of the overall picture. That is the direct result of the Government’s decision and there must be action taken to protect patients who will inevitably be impacted.”