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Northern Irish GPs warn patients that workforce crisis may mean turning them away

BMJ 2017; 359 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.j4885 (Published 20 October 2017) Cite this as: BMJ 2017;359:j4885
  1. Abi Rimmer
  1. The BMJ

Patients in Northern Ireland have been warned that they may be turned away by their GP over the winter months because of a severe shortage of doctors.

Tom Black, chair of the BMA’s general practitioners committee in Northern Ireland, has written an open letter warning the public about the state of primary care.

The news comes as a report by the Royal College of Surgeons said that the health service in Northern Ireland was failing patients who are waiting for planned treatment. It said that the overall patient waiting times from referral to treatment …

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