Debate contribution: Multidisciplinary Teams in GP Practices: North Belfast

Debate contribution by Mr Colin McGrath on 21 April 2026.

MLA

Mr Colin McGrath

Party at the time

Social Democratic and Labour Party

Date

21 April 2026

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Adjournment

Heading

Multidisciplinary Teams in GP Practices: North Belfast

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5498155

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I am delighted to speak on behalf of the SDLP in my second North Belfast Adjournment debate. I am the son of an Ardoyne man, and I am a former resident of Ashley Gardens on the Antrim Road, off Somerton Road and Lansdowne Road, so I feel like I am almost a local. I have been so impressed by these Adjournment debates that I have managed to secure one next week for South Down, so any North Belfast Members who would like to come along will be more than welcome. We know that MDTs have the capacity to transform primary care. They ease the pressures on GPs by offering a range of services in health centres. It is also about quicker access to those services. I remember visiting one of the GP practices in my area, and the GP was really clear about MDTs. He said, "Do you know what? I am not an expert in knees, joints and moving legs. That is why we have a physio. If somebody needs to get those issues seen to, it is better to get them directly to the physio rather than have them come to me and for me to then refer them to the physio, which adds an extra layer". Having that ability in-house to make referrals quickly helps people to get treatment much quicker and more locally, and it helps to address health inequalities. The vast need to address the health inequalities in North Belfast has been eloquently put by others here today. Of course, the system has not been fully realised; it has only been partially implemented. I spoke at the South Belfast GP Federation's annual meeting last year, and GPs from one surgery in South Belfast talked about how difficult they found it when one GP practice, which was basically a couple of hundred yards away, was able to offer a raft of additional services, yet theirs was not because it was on the border with an area that had MDT services. That inequality in its own right was felt very sorely by those practitioners who were not able to offer that range of services. The jealousy tipped towards those GPs who were able to offer those services, so it is something that is absolutely seen as being valued in the medical fraternity. Therefore, it is something that I would like to see pushed, rolled out and offered as far as possible. I know that that is an aspiration. I appreciate that the Minister does not have a storeroom of social workers, practice nurses and physios down in the Department that he can just hand out. That is the aspiration. It is about how quickly we can make that a reality and how quickly we can move on. If there is full roll-out and partial roll-out, that does not represent fairness or equality of service provision. We do not want to see that two-tier system, as has been referenced, where some can get access to services and others cannot. Somewhere in the region of half a million people across the North are not part of areas that have MDTs. Those people are being left behind, unable to access the full range of services without having to go through extra hoops and going to other secondary care locations. While today's debate is important, we must not lose sight of areas that need to have that MDT service introduced. If we are serious about reforming our health service, about that shift left and about getting treatment for people as close as possible to their homes so that they do not have to travel, the MDT model provides an excellent opportunity to do those things, but that will mean full roll-out, sustainable funding and additional resources. That is probably where there will be some problems. I am happy to support that for North Belfast. I offer a slight apology, like Carál did last week. I have to go and chair the all-party group (APG) on youth participation in the Senate Chamber, so I will not get to hear the Minister's remarks, but I have a fair idea of what he will say. We will continue to provide help and support where we can, especially for North Belfast, which is my second home.

711 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 15:26 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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