Claire Harkin

𝗚𝗣 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗸𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗝𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝗱 Ulster Unionist Party comments on the decision taken over the weekend at the Local Medical Committees conference at the Merchant Hotel.  An Ulster Unionist Spokesperson said, "The decisions flowing from the weekend conference of GPs were not only deeply disappointing - they were astonishingly ill-judged. As we enter into the winter months, it is now particularly galling to hear a leading Northern Ireland GP talking about ramping up their actions, including looking at the delivery of some of Northern Ireland’s critical vaccination programmes.  "This most recent escalation is particularly disappointing given that it is coming barely a week after the Health Minister, Mike Nesbitt, had managed to secure the necessary political agreement to deliver the long-awaited pay award for health workers - including an extra £12m just for GPs and their staff. "At a time when the entire health service is under unprecedented pressure, the kind of theatrical and grandstanding gesture coming from some GPs and the BMA helps no one - least of all patients. It risks derailing constructive progress just as the Minister was beginning to make real progress to stabilise and reform primary care.  "The Minister won't be distracted in the very slightest by the vote of confidence in him. What was far more alarming, however, was the vote taken at the same conference to explore moving outside the NHS. Such a proposition from GPs is reckless and utterly disconnected from the needs of the public. Our NHS is founded on universal access and free at the point of delivery; GPs openly floating the idea of moving away from it undermines confidence and does nothing to address the very real challenges facing primary care.  "To be clear, neither the current Ulster Unionist Health Minister, Mike Nesbitt, nor any other Ulster Unionist Health Minister, will allow the privatisation of primary care in Northern Ireland.  "The people of Northern Ireland deserve solutions, not stunts. It is time for GP leaders and their representative body to step back from inflammatory gestures and return to serious, responsible engagement. That's what patients both expect and deserve." ENDS