We wish to advise that negotiations on the GP Contract recommenced yesterday, 18^th January, between the IMO, Department of Health and the HSE. 

For a number of years the IMO has been advocating for reform of General Practice and the resourced introduction of a GP Led Community Care model which will deliver better services for the patient and deliver better value to the taxpayer.  It is now universally accepted that this is the correct approach, however given the decimation of our services and funding in recent years there are significant challenges ahead to achieving this goal.

During the discussions the parties considered a range of issues to be negotiated and dealt with in the context of developing a GP Contract many of which are detailed in the Memorandum of Understanding between the IMO, Department of Health and the HSE.

The parties acknowledged that the reform process will take time and will require significant resources and we have undertaken to develop a roadmap for the development of a new GP Contract so that the necessary funding, including the reversal of funding cuts, and capacity issues can be dealt with in a planned way to bring certainty to established GPs, establishing GPs and GP Trainees.

It was confirmed at the meeting that in the context of the GP Contract there are two processes, a negotiating process and a consultative process.  The negotiations will take place between the IMO, Department of Health and the HSE under the 2014 Framework Agreement.  The Department of Health and the HSE have advised that the NAGP are to engage in a consultation process.

The IMO, having consulted with GPs around the country and undertaken extensive research, have a clear vision as to how General Practice should be developed and we hope that a roadmap and set of priorities for negotiations can be agreed in the coming weeks so that we can move ahead with negotiating real change for General Practice.