Debate contribution: Dalriada Urgent Care
Debate contribution by Mr Mike Nesbitt on .
- MLA
- Mr Mike Nesbitt
- Party at the time
- Ulster Unionist Party
- Date
- 1 October 2024
- Type
- Debate contribution (made as a minister)
- Business
- Oral Answers to Questions
- Heading
- Dalriada Urgent Care
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4562830
Read the official Assembly record
Text
The GP out-of-hours service is a core element of health and social care provision and of primary care. The service is available from Monday to Friday from 6.00 pm to 8.00 am, as well as for 24 hours at weekends and on public holidays. The majority of patients who contact out-of-hours services across the region do not require to be seen face to face. The percentage of patients who contact the out-of-hours service and need to be seen in an out-of-hours centre — known as "base visits" — has changed dramatically over the years. In 2015-16, for example, base visits accounted for 40% of Dalriada Urgent Care's patient contacts; in 2019-2020, base visits had reduced to 30% of contacts. In 2023-24, 76% of Dalriada's patient contacts were managed by telephone or video call with a clinician; home visits accounted for 5% of its contacts; and patients seen face to face accounted for 19% of contacts. Owing to workforce challenges, Dalriada does not currently have the capacity to provide a service across four centres, with the service being delivered from its main hub in Ballymena and the new out-of-hours centre at Antrim Area Hospital. That, though, is constantly under review.
Those workforce challenges are common to all GP out-of-hours services across the region. The consolidation of services to a smaller number of larger centres has improved the recruitment and retention of staff due to the benefits associated with collaboration, peer support and equitable workload distribution. All GP out-of-hours providers are expected to review activity levels and capacity challenges in order to ensure the efficient use of resources and the provision of an effective service within the allocated budget.
277 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not flagged”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.02 (flagging needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not flagged).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- Assessed as legitimate policy scrutiny (0.70).
- No identity-based framing was identified (1.00).
- The overall probability was at or below the not-flagging threshold.
This is an AI-generated assessment of the text, made against published criteria. It is not a finding of fact about the MLA or their intentions. The Assembly record itself is the fact.
Jev’s structured answers
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.02 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.01 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.01 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.01 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.02 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.70 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.02 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 1.00 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.00 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-related subject | 1.00 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.00 |
| Irish language, Ulster-Scots and language policy | 0.00 |
| Sport (including the GAA), the arts and cultural bodies | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:22 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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