GPs in Northern Ireland have agreed a new contract with the Department of Health, ending a dispute that has lasted 12 months.

What the deal includes

The 2026/27 General Medical Services contract is worth a further £17.384m, including £13.3m of recurrent funding into core GP services. The Department of Health has also announced an additional £40m across two years to improve patient access and primary care activity.

Health Minister Robbie Butler said the agreement would make it easier for patients to secure appointments. He said difficulty getting a GP appointment was one of the issues people raised with him most, and that the financial package must deliver more appointments and services for people who need them.

Doctors say more is still needed

BBC News NI health correspondent Marie-Louise Connolly reported that acquiring more doctors requires long-term investment. GPs recently told Stormont's Health Committee that general practice receives less than 6% of the total health budget.

Dr Frances O'Hagan, chair of the BMA's Northern Ireland GPs committee, said the allocation was insufficient to fund the required number of doctors per practice.

A year of dispute

The deal follows a long-running row over GP funding. Last year, GP partners voted overwhelmingly in favour of collective action, and 99.6% of those who voted rejected the 2025/26 contract offer, which the health minister then imposed. The BMA had asked for an extra £80m in core funding for general practice. The new agreement returns the two sides to a negotiated settlement, but doctors' leaders say the funding gap has not been closed.