Antrim Ballymena GP Federation Quarterly Newsletter - Winter 2026
- Northern Federation Support Unit
- Feb 20
- 10 min read
A note from the Chair - Dr Alan Lewis
Colleagues,
This is our first newsletter of 2026, and I want to take this opportunity to wish you all a Happy New Year.
Last year was a busy year with significant uncertainty within general practice, and I hope this year will be a more positive one. There is likely to be further change in general practice with the planned “Neighbourhood Model for Northern Ireland” being rolled out from April 2026. What impact, if any, this will have on us is unknown and will depend on how our negotiators resolve the GP contract issues. We can only wait and see, but hopefully any change, if it comes, will be positive.
Locally, things continue as they have been, with our Federation teams working tirelessly to support each practice team. The Northern FSU team works hard behind the scenes to support and assist the GPP and GPN teams.
We are currently recruiting further GPPs to help fill gaps in the team. The NFSU Medical Academy is also running again this year, following a very successful programme in 2025 which trained Medical Administrators / Clinical Navigators to work in general practice.
I haven't anything additional to share at present. I look forward to seeing you all over the next year.
Joanne Caldwell & Aislinn Carey - Lead General Practice Pharmacists
The past three months have been a busy and uplifting period for our General Practice Pharmacist (GPP) team, filled with professional achievements, team development, and plenty of festive spirit.
🎓 Education & Professional Development
We’re delighted to share the fantastic news that Emma‑Jane Hughes has successfully completed her Independent Prescribing qualification and is now officially registered on the PSNI register. Emma has already begun using her prescribing skills in practice, and this has been hugely beneficial—enhancing patient access, streamlining clinical pathways, and boosting her own clinical confidence. A massive well‑done, Emma!
💬 CPR Training – November
In November, the whole team took part in CPR and emergency response training, which was both highly informative and extremely practical. The session allowed us all to refresh essential life‑saving skills, develop quicker team responses, and build confidence around handling emergency scenarios in the practice.It was a valuable opportunity for hands‑on learning, and the room was full of energy (and a few sore arms the next day!).
🎄 Christmas Meal – December
December brought some much‑needed downtime as we gathered for our staff Christmas meal at The Leighinmohr House Hotel. It was a lovely evening, giving everyone a chance to relax, unwind, and spend quality time together outside the busy practice environment. Great food, great company, and lots of laughter.
📣 Recruitment News
We are pleased to share that we were recently successful in recruiting three GPP posts. This is a positive step forward for the team, and we are currently in the planning stages of confirming start dates and preparing for onboarding.
We look forward to welcoming the new members. This recruitment has allowed us to expand the team and will ease staffing pressures as we move further into 2026
Farewell to Claire Loughran
We’re very sad to have said goodbye to Claire Loughran as she moves on to her next chapter. Claire had been such a valued part of the team, always bringing warmth, positivity, and professionalism to everything she did. She’ll be greatly missed by all of us, but we’re wishing her every success and happiness in her new role. Thank you for everything, Claire!
📅 Upcoming Training & Development
Our commitment to developing clinical excellence continues into 2026:
March: The team will attend a Resilience Masterclass—a timely opportunity to strengthen wellbeing, coping approaches, and professional sustainability.
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
Our pilot this year for Dalriada-covered practice closures has been a success. This provides protected time for teams to work on internal practice training or attend regional events.
We held:
An in-house training day in September
A Federation-wide educational event for the whole practice team in November at Galgorm, attracting 200 attendees
Both were extremely valuable, and further events of this type are planned.
🚑 Medical Cover – Support Needed
The ongoing challenge is medical cover. Dalriada require a minimum number of GPs to run safely. On both events this year, we came close to cancellation due to lack of cover.
If you have experience working in DUC and would consider taking on a single practice closure afternoon during the year, it would be greatly appreciated. This cover would attract the usual Dalriada rate.
In time, we may also be able to offer additional incentives through the Federation for those willing to help secure these dates.
Having confidence in cover allows us to plan with certainty, avoiding the need to stand down speakers or cancel venues.
📅 Looking Ahead
We are hoping to again provide a Hot Topics teaching day in the spring. Further details will follow.
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
We are delighted to offer our congratulations to Jolene on the successful completion of her Post Graduate Certificate in General Practice Nursing - very well done Jolene. 👏🏻
We would also acknowledge our sincere thanks to Randalstown GP practice especially the GPN and PM for all the support, encouragement and supervision provided to Jolene as she completed the one-year programme with the University of Ulster.
Well done Jolene – we are simply delighted to be able to say congratulations and celebrations on obtaining your Post Grad Certificate in GPN.
Jolene is currently working in Randalstown and Rockfield GP practices and is undertaking the Cervical Screening Course with Queens University.
📖 Dalriada Urgent Care (DUC) Cover – Protected Learning Time
Dalriada Urgent Care (DUC) cover continues to be arranged to support practices during our Federation Protected Learning Time (PLT) afternoons, helping enable colleagues to attend education and training sessions. As always, DUC cover remains subject to sufficient GP availability.
To support this and help ensure reliable cover across all areas, the Federation will be offering an incentive to GPs who provide DUC cover on any of the scheduled PLT dates.
The confirmed PLT dates for 2026/2027 are:
· 20th May 2026
· 23rd September 2026
· 18th November 2026
· 24th February 2027.
Practices are encouraged to note these dates in their calendars and indicate availability where possible.
Northern GP Federation Support Unit Update (NFSU)
To put a face to our names and for the relevant contact details, click here -
NFSU Project Update
Naomi Hutchinson - Business Support Manager
Medical Admin Academy
Meet Terri – Ballymoney Family Practice’s Newest Recruit 🎉
We are delighted to introduce Terri, the newest member of the team at Ballymoney Family Practice (BFP).
Terri commenced the Medical Administration Academy in September 2023, funded through LMP Mid & East Antrim, and successfully completed the programme in October 2023. As part of her development, one of our member practices kindly offered Terri a placement and work-shadowing opportunity, providing valuable insight into the day-to-day realities of working within general practice.
Following this experience, Terri quickly secured a temporary role within another member practice and subsequently progressed to a permanent position as a Receptionist at Ballymoney Family Practice. Having previously worked in retail for over sixteen years, Terri entered the Academy seeking a change in career and has embraced the transition enthusiastically. Now five weeks into her role at BFP, Terri describes herself as “surviving and absolutely loving life at BFP, especially the support and encouragement from the team around me.”
Terri has expressed her sincere appreciation for the Medical Administration Academy and is extremely grateful for the opportunity it provided to begin her career in general practice.
Nuala, Practice Manager at Ballymoney Family Practice, recently shared:
“We were delighted to welcome Terri to our talented medical administration team here at BFP. The patient experience begins with our admin team, so recruiting the right people is key for us. We would love to see a dedicated Medical Administration Academy for people within our geographical remit, enabling practices across the Causeway Federation to access a wider pool of talented individuals.”
We wish Terri every success as she continues her journey at BFP and we are delighted to note that Terri’s journey reflects a wider pattern of success, with similar positive outcomes seen across other Northern Federations.
➡️ Want to know more about our Medical Admin Academy? Watch the below video.
Our first Medical Administration Academy with LMP - Antrim & Newtownabbey
Week 1 got off to an eventful start, quite literally, with Day 1 coinciding with an amber weather warning. Despite the less-than-ideal conditions, spirits were high and the programme launched with great energy as participants explored the key roles that make up general practice.
We were delighted to welcome Dr Goodrich, GP, who shared first-hand insights into life in general practice and Yvonne Back, Assistant Practice Manager, who highlighted the essential role of practice management and administration. Team-building activities throughout the week helped the 13 participants get to know one another and start building confidence for their journey ahead.
🎉 Save the Date! Please mark your calendars for our Celebration Event at Antrim Civic Centre on Thursday 19th March. More details to follow.
📣 Calling all GP Practices: If you have any current or planned administrative vacancies, we would appreciate if you could share the information with us. Please get in contact with our team and we will be happy to explore potential matches from our motivated participants. .
👥Staff Update
💼Appointment of New Business Support & Communications Officer
We are pleased to announce the appointment of Lucy McClure as Business Support & Communications Officer within NFSU. In this role, Lucy will support communications and governance activities, as well as assist with the organisation of meetings, events, and training across the Northern Federations.
📄NFSU Job Opportunity – Office Administrator
We were very pleased to be granted a Job Start vacancy for an Administrative Assistant here at NFSU (funded through Department of Communities). This is vacancy for initially 6 months here at our offices in Galgorm. To find out more / eligibility criteria please click here.
📈Member Survey Update
A huge thank you to everyone who completed the Northern Members Practices Survey - we had a 58% response rate, and we really appreciate those practices who responded taking the time to complete the survey.
Following your submission of Practice Index choices, these have now been confirmed with Practice Index. Should you wish to amend / join any of the products they offer please contact our account manager directly on matthew.smith@practiceindex.co.uk.
The current prices as of Feb 2026 are (12 months subscription):
PLUS £409 + VAT
HR Package £371 + VAT
Learning Package £371 + VAT
Rota Package £371 + VAT
🧭The results also showed strong interest in Care Navigation, with around three-quarters of respondents expressing interest in us organising a few ad hoc sessions. We will be liaising with relevant people to explore all suggested training ideas and to organising sessions.
🫀There was a particularly strong response for CPR training, which we are actively working on and will keep you updated as plans develop.
89% of practices informed us they find our newsletter useful.
🙏🏻Thank you for your continued engagement. It is important to us that we are engaging with the majority of Practices in a way that meets your needs. .
Accurx Update
The Federation’s regional contract with Accurx is due to renew soon and we want to ensure practices are aware of the options available going forward.
📅 Accurx will be hosting a dedicated webinar for our practices on Wednesday 4th March (12:30–1:30pm), covering current products, packages, pricing, and upcoming developments.
The session will also include a Q&A and will also be ideal for any practices who is / has recently migrated from Vision to EMIS.
➡️ If you wish to attend the webinar on 4 March you can register here. We will be liaising with each practice during March/April to obtain confirmation how you wish to proceed.
Economies of Scale Project
Our “Suggested Supplier” for workwear / scrubs is Garment Graphixs. This information has been added to our website.
📄Model Complaints Handling Procedure (MCHP) - Update
You will be aware from our previous newsletter communications that we had been gathering and sharing information regarding the new MCHP.
We did not take this matter any further, as GPNI recently delivered a lunchtime webinar in conjunction with SPPG covering the key details. If you were unable to attend, you may access a recording of the session - ➡️ Click here
💭Info Shared by Our Northern Member Practices
⭐Become a Yellow Card Champion – Supporting Patient Safety Across Northern Ireland
The Yellow Card Centre Northern Ireland is inviting healthcare staff to volunteer for the important role of Yellow Card Champion, helping to strengthen patient safety and pharmacovigilance across our health and social care system.
This opportunity is open to all staff working across GP practices, including nurses, pharmacists, healthcare assistants, allied health professionals, and medical professionals.
READ MORE!
What is the Yellow Card Scheme?
The Yellow Card scheme is run by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), which safeguards medicines, vaccines, medical devices (including software, apps and AI), blood products and e-cigarettes, quality and efficiency in the United Kingdom. Through the Yellow Card scheme, the MHRA collects and monitors information on suspected safety concerns involving healthcare products, like side effects caused by a medicine, or adverse incidents involving medical devices.
What is a Yellow Card Champion?
Yellow Card Champions play a vital role in promoting the reporting of suspected adverse drug reactions and improving awareness of medication safety within their workplace.
As a Champion, you will:
Promote Yellow Card reporting within your area of practice
Provide peer-to-peer education to individuals or staff groups
Raise awareness of adverse reactions as a key safety and quality issue
Support colleagues to identify and report suspected adverse reactions
Receive ongoing support from the Yellow Card Centre Northern Ireland
Why get involved?
By becoming a Yellow Card Champion, you will contribute directly to improving medication safety, strengthening a culture of reporting, and supporting safer prescribing and monitoring for patients across Northern Ireland.
How to take part
Staff interested in taking on this role are encouraged to discuss the opportunity with their line manager.
If you would like to register your interest, please complete the Yellow Card Champion Registration Form.
To support those taking on the role, a Yellow Card Champions Day will be held in March, with further details to follow.
This is an excellent opportunity for colleagues across the Antrim/Ballymena Federation area to champion patient safety and play an active role in pharmacovigilance.
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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Date of next newsletter - April 2026
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