Publication of the family practitioner services statistical report 2007/08

The Business Services Organisation has today published statistics about family practitioner services in Northern Ireland.

These services include General Medical, General Dental, Ophthalmic and Pharmaceutical Services. The Business Services Organisation was established on 1 April 2009 and takes over the functions of the Central Services Agency.

Key facts and figures for family practitioner services

Data relates to October 2008 unless otherwise stated:

• In Northern Ireland there were 1,148 General Practitioners (GPs – Unrestricted and Salaried), 819 Principal Dentists, 653 Ophthalmic Practitioners and 246 Pharmacy Contractors;
• There were 358 GP practices, 351 Dental practices, 263 Ophthalmic practices and 520 Pharmacies located throughout Northern Ireland;
• On average there were 65 GPs, 47 Dentists, 37 Optometrists and 30 Pharmacies per 100,000 resident population;
• The Southern Board had the lowest number of tooth extractions per 1,000 registered and resident population for children aged from 0 to17;
• 15% of all GP practices in Northern Ireland were single-handed with an average practice list size of 2,167 registered patients;
• The Gross Cost per person for prescription drugs was £232 in 2007/08 while the total Gross Cost of Pharmaceutical payment was £425.4million. The Total Net Ingredient Cost (NIC) was £365million;
• The average GP practice list size was 5,164 registered patients. The LGD with the lowest average practice list size was Fermanagh (3,386) and the highest was Carrickfergus (9,980). The average Dental Practice list size was 2,451;
• GPs are predominately male, however, there were more female GPs in 2008 (39%) compared to 1998 (30%). Over half (55%) of GPs were aged from 40 to 54 in 2008;
• As for dentists, 47% were female and 56% were aged under 40;
• 62% of children (aged 0 to 17) and 45% of adults were registered with a dentist;
• 6,712 fillings and 19,074 extractions were carried out on children’s (aged from 0 to 12) teeth;
• There were 1.85million people registered with GPs in Northern Ireland. The most common surnames were Kelly, Campbell and Wilson. John was the most common male forename followed by William and James while Mary was the most common female forename followed by Margaret and Elizabeth;
• The Net Cost of General Medical Services, paid by the Central Services Agency on behalf of Health Boards in Northern Ireland in 2007/08, was £174million;
• In 2007/08, the Gross cost of General Dental Payments was £68.8 million, the majority of which, £53.3 million, was for Dental Treatments of which £15.9million was patient contributions;
• In 2007/08 the total cost of Ophthalmic Services in Northern Ireland was £17.3million;
• In just over a decade the number of NHS sight test forms increased by 70% from 227,000 in 1997/98 to 385,463 in 2007/08;
• The average gross cost per prescription item was £13.78, an increase of 26% in over a decade from £10.90 in 1998. There were 17.3million prescription forms in 2007/08 for 30.9million prescription items dispensed. This equates to an average of 17 prescription items per person in 2007/08, an increase of 31% in just over a decade from 1998 when it was 13;
• The highest numbers of prescription items were for those used to treat the ‘Central Nervous System’ (24%), followed by those for the ‘Cardiovascular System’ (23%) and the ‘Gastro-Intestinal System’ (9%).

Notes to Editors:

1. The publication can be accessed on the Business Services Organisation website

2. The figures in this document have been compiled from data held in the Business Services Organisation databases.

3. Further information on statistics provided in this publication can be obtained from:

Information and Research Unit

Family Practitioner Services

Business Services Organisation

2 Franklin Street

Belfast

BT2 8DQ

Tel: 028 9053 5567

Fax: 028 9053 5633

E-Mail:

4. For media enquiries please contact the DHSSPS Press Office on 028 9052 0074 or out of hours contact the Duty Press Officer via pager number 076 9971 5440 and your call will be returned.