Antrim Ballymena GP Federation Quarterly Newsletter - Spring 2026
- Northern Federation Support Unit
- 6 days ago
- 8 min read
Updated: 4 days ago
A note from the Chair - Dr Alan Lewis
Colleagues,
It seems no time since our previous newsletter and my note this time will be brief. I wanted to update you all regarding our GPP and GPN teams. We have recently recruited to grow our GPP team and we hope this will help ease some pressures across the team as these posts are filled. Similarly we are planning to recruit additional GPN trainees and we aim to have these posts filled so they can join the next course in September.
You will he aware through previous correspondence that federations across the region will have FeNO machines available over the coming months. This is allowing us to run a pilot project in our area to assist in diagnosis and treatment of Asthma. Your GPPs and nursing teams will be able to work together to identify patients who fit the criteria for this. As a result of this pilot we hope to be able to have the necessary data to submit a business case for central funding for FeNO going forward.
The Northern area have recently recruited a quality improvement facilitator to fill a vacancy. Dr Laura Caul will be in touch with local practices over the next number of weeks. I want to take this opportunity to thank Dr Frew Johnston for all his efforts in this role previously.
I look forward to seeing you all at our planned Hot Topics event next month.
All for now, thanks as always
Dr Alan Lewis
Joanne Caldwell & Aislinn Carey - Lead General Practice Pharmacists
📣 Recruitment News
We are pleased to welcome two new GPPs into post and one further GPP in May. We are confident they will be valuable additions, supporting our practices and helping strengthen service delivery over the coming years.
This recruitment has allowed us to expand the team and will ease staffing pressures as we move further into 2026
Cathal Lowry is currently covering Antrim Family Practice and Portglenone Practice
Kevin Maguire is currently covering Rockfield and Oriel
Ciara Halligan has been appointed as a full-time, temporary pharmacist on a two-year fixed term contract and is due to start in May.
💪🏻Resilience Masterclass – Strengthening Our Teams Together
Recently, members of the Antrim Ballymena GPP team had the opportunity to attend a Resilience
Masterclass, delivered jointly alongside colleagues from the East Antrim Federation. This session came at a perfect time and was widely felt to be both timely and much needed across our teams.
📅 Upcoming Training & Development
Our commitment to developing clinical excellence continues into 2026:
Summer 2026: Joanne and Aislinn are planning an intensive Clinical Skills Refresher Programme, where team members with expertise in areas such as hypertension, diabetes, and respiratory care will lead internal training workshops. This peer‑teaching model will help ensure our whole team remains confident, consistent, and up to date in key clinical areas.
Federation Education
Dr John Goodrich - Educational Lead
📖 Hot Topics GP Update - 20th May
Antrim Ballymena GP Federation will host the NB Medical Hot Topics GP Update – Spring 2026 on Wednesday 20th May 2026 at the Tullyglass Hotel, Ballymena.
This popular event will run from 2pm – 9pm and attendees will receive a Hot Topics course book and one year of online access to course content.
The event is open to permanent GPs, ST3s, ANPs, GPPs, GPNs, and Practice Nurses.
✅How to register:
GPs, ST3s, ANPs, and Practice Nurses – further information and booking details have been circulated to your practice manager.
GPPs & GPNs – please speak to your Line Manager for further details.
Dalriada Urgent Care (DUC) – Protected Learning Time Dates
Protected Learning Time (PLT) for 2026/2027 has now been aligned to support forward planning of education events.
The dates where DUC is scheduled are:
· Wed 20th May 2026
· Wed 23rd September 2026
· Wed 18th November 2026
· Wed 24th February 2027
GPs will be contacted in advance to confirm availability for cover. Early confirmation of GP availability to ensure these education sessions can proceed as planned and to support effective planning across Federations.
See More for printable flyer >
🚑 Medical Cover Update - We need YOUR help!
The ongoing challenge around FedEd activity is the medical cover for practice closure. You will be aware that a training day in February was cancelled at short notice. Dalriada were unable to obtain any cover despite significant efforts.
We would like to secure four afternoons each year with Dalriada cover to permit practice closures for multi-disciplinary learning events, further external events such as Hot Topics, or to facilitate in-house training.
This will require medical cover for Dalriada. Closure is usually on a Trust-wide basis and can be run with 4 GPs alongside ancillary staff. We are looking at ways this can be secured so that training plans can be made with confidence. The Dalriada cover is a paid session.
We require 16 sessions to cover the year.
➡️ If you would be willing to commit to doing one Wednesday afternoon session in the year it would very helpful and enable our program to run.
📩 Please contact Hannah Wilson - hannah.wilson@northernfsu.co.uk If you can help!
📅 Looking Ahead
If there are any topics you would like covered at Federation events, or if you know of any speakers who would be willing to partner with us, please contact the team at NFSU at info@northernfsu.co.uk
General Practice Nurse Update
Anne Witherow - Lead Nurse
Antrim and Ballymena Federation are delighted to be expanding the GPN workforce and will be seeking applicants for the following permanent posts:
We have funding for 2 trainee GPN posts to complete the One Year Post Grad Certificate with University Ulster which on successful completion will lead to a permanent GPN post with the GP Federation
We are recruiting for a part time ( 15 hours per week) permanent qualified GPN practitioner.
📢 Spread the word! – Advertisements will be on the following platforms
HSC recruit
NI Job Finder
Federation social media
Northern GP Federation Support Unit Update (NFSU)
Keeping you up to date with our team.
Feel free to reach out to any of the NFSU team supporting the four Northern GP Federations (Antrim Ballymena, Causeway, East Antrim, and Mid Ulster).
➡️ Check out our NEW bios to put faces to names and see who does what:
Got a question or want to know more about our work? Please get in touch. We have recently updated our bios following a couple of recent additions to our team
NFSU Project Update
Rachael Elliott & Hannah Wilson - Project Coordinators
Medical Admin Academy
We are delighted to be continuing to deliver our Medical Admin Academy, supporting individuals to develop their skills, knowledge, and confidence required to work in administrative roles within GP practices.
Antrim & Newtownabbey LMP (See more)
Earlier this year, we delivered the academy in partnership with Antrim & Newtownabbey Labour Market Partnership (LMP). The programme ran over eight weeks and provided participants with training in key areas such as patient communication, terminology, confidentiality & GDPR, clinical systems, and the day-to-day operations of working within general practice.
The programme received strong interest from the local community, with 64 expressions of interest received. A total of 13 participants commenced the academy, with 11 successfully completing the programme, representing an 85% completion rate. Participant feedback was very positive, with 91% overall quality of training as excellent. Encouragingly, several participants have already secured employment within GP practices, with others actively progressing through recruitment processes.
Mid & East Antrim LMP (See more)
Furthermore, we are delighted to share that funding has been secured to run another Medical Admin Academy in partnership with Mid & East Antrim LMP, with the next cohort due to begin in May 2026 in Ballymena.
The upcoming academy will once again provide participants with practical training into working within general practice, alongside opportunities to engage with healthcare professionals and develop employability skills.
We would be grateful if you would kindly display the flyer in your practice.
With strong outcomes from previous programmes and continued interest from both participants and GP practices, the Medical Admin Academy continues to demonstrate the value of collaboration between GP Federations, their member practices, and LMP in supporting employment opportunities whilst strengthening the primary care workforce.
Lastly, please do remember to share with us any medical admin vacancies within your practice. We would be very happy to circulate these to participants from our previous cohorts, as well as to suitable individuals within the upcoming academy cohort.
➡️ Want to know more about our Medical Admin Academy? Watch the below video.
EMIS Training Sessions – Coming Soon ⏰
We are currently planning EMIS training sessions for Antrim Ballymena practices, provisionally scheduled for Wednesday 10 and Wednesday 17 June.
These sessions will be aimed at practice administrative teams, senior reception staff, and practice managers, offering an opportunity to refresh knowledge and further develop EMIS skills.
This training has been made possible through funding received from Mid & East Antrim Borough Council.
Please note, this training is not for all team members—each member practice within Antrim Ballymena Federation will be invited to nominate at least one staff member to attend. Attendees will be allocated to one of two groups and will take part in a half-day session on each date, so availability for both sessions will be required.
We are continuing to work with Optum to confirm final arrangements. Further details will be shared after the Optum Roadshow on 21 May, as we understand some training will be covered at this event.
❤️ CPR Training / Financial Support
We are pleased to share some exciting news for all our GP practices. Your Federation will be providing some financial support for CPR Training for the next year. Further details regarding this will be circulated very shortly via email, so please keep an eye out for this communication. Thank you to those who responded to the Member Practice survey in January as this allowed us to gather our research in this area.
Economies of Scale Project
We continue to listen to feedback from Practices and work closely with local suppliers, strengthening our partnerships to support cost savings wherever possible.
Accurx Update
We recently contacted all Northern practices enrolled in the AccuRx Federation contract regarding upcoming renewals, due at the start of May 2026. Our Federation contract will generate almost £60k in savings for Northern Practices for 2026/2027 alone.
In the Northern area, over 85% EMIS practices are currently signed up and finding AccuRx extremely useful in their Practice. We are also mindful of the few remaining upcoming Vision to EMIS migrations. If your practice is considering joining AccuRx or if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to: Rachael.elliott@northernfsu.co.uk
Click Here for previous Webinar
Previous webinar held on 4th March 2026 can still be watched here – (products, package, pricing, upcoming developments) The session includes a Q& A and will be ideal for Practices who is/has migrated from Vison to Emis. Economies of Scale | Northern Federation
Click Here for Approx. Current Pricing (subject to change depending on patient list size)
Modules | AccuRx Pricing +Vat Per patient | Federation Pricing +Vat Per patient | Federation Savings |
Bronze (Sms plus, Batch messaging and appointment reminders, florey questionnaires) | 43p | 24p | 19p (44.20%) |
Booking | 29p | 26p | 3p (10.30%) |
Patient Triage | 25p | 19p | 6p (24%) |
The Regional NI contract can save practices up to 44% on modules.
Take a look at the discounts available to you on our website through our supplier partnerships
CLICK HERE ➡️Economies of Scale | Northern Federation
Contact us
As always if you have any questions for the FSU, please do not hesitate to contact the Federation Support Unit on info@northernfsu.co.uk or 028 9620 8333
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