£40m GP contract deal a 'start' but more funding needed, BMA warns

A new contract with GPs, accompanied by an extra £40m investment, will make it "easier" to get a doctor's appointment, Northern Ireland's health minister has said.

Robbie Butler has secured an agreement with GPs more than a year after family doctors withdrew some services in protest over a lack of adequate funding.

Dr Frances O'Hagan from the British Medical Association (BMA) said the £40m would be used to hire more GPs and receptionists to increase capacity in surgeries.

However, she said the investment was only "a start" and was "by no means all that we need" in order to address all of the demands that GPs are facing.