Strabane and Limavady doctors under pressure

DOCTORS in Strabane and Limavady were last year under greater pressure than their colleagues in most parts of Northern Ireland with the third (1816 patients per GP) and fifth (1689 patients per GP) highest concentration of patients respectively.
By The Newsroom
Published 3rd Feb 2011, 10:00 BST

Strabane had the third highest concentration in Northern Ireland after Mid Ulster (1917) and Upper Bann (1825) last year.

The figure is for the West Tyrone constituency taking in Omagh and Castlederg as well as Strabane.

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Elsewhere, general practitioners in the Limavady and Coleraine areas also faced a high number of patients with an average of 1689 last year, the fifth highest in the province.

Doctors in Londonderry - by contrast - dealt with an average of 1547 patients.

This was some way below the Northern Ireland average of 1611.

Health Minister Michael McGimpsey made the revelations as he detailed the number of patients per GP in each constituency in 2010 in response to a query by DUP MLA Gregory Campbell.

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He commented: “Due to changes in the GMS contract in 2004 patients no longer register with a GP, but with a GP practice.

“Figures are based on the number of patients registered with GP practices located in each Parliamentary constituency in October 2010.

“It should be noted that the GP practice with which a patient is registered may not be located in the same constituency in which they live.

“The GP numbers used in the calculation are the headcounts of UPE (Unrestricted Principle or Equivalent) and salaried GPs; other types of general practitioner, such as locums, assistants, and associates are not included.

“Allocation of GPs to a parliamentary constituency is based on the postcode of the practice where they were employed in October 2010,” he told Mr Campbell.

Related topics:StrabaneLimavadyNorthern IrelandGregory CampbellDoctorsMid Ulster