Causeway GP Federation Quarterly Newsletter - Winter 2026
- Northern Federation Support Unit
- Feb 20
- 9 min read
A note from the Chair - Dr Johnny Burns
Colleagues,
I hope this finds you well.
As we move through the final quarter of the year, our overall position remains one of steady progress, with much of our work continuing as business as usual while we consolidate developments already underway. We are approaching the end of Year 1 of our Strategic Action Plan and will shortly be reviewing progress against our agreed priorities. Thank you to everyone who has contributed to this work across Practices and Federation teams. For reference, the Strategic Action Plan can be viewed here – Click Here.
We are also currently developing the 2026/2027 Federation Education PBL schedule. This remains a key part of our commitment to professional development and peer learning. We hope to be able to share further details with you before the end of March.
Finally, I would like to thank you all for your continued professionalism and support. The pressures remain significant, but the collaborative approach across our Federation continues to be a real strength.
Best regards,
Johnny
MDT - Senior Mental Health Practitioners
Joanne Hamilton - Deputy Mental Health Manager
🌟 A Warm Welcome to Our New SMHPs! 🌟
I am delighted to welcome our new SMHPs Catherine Douds and Eileen Gailey, to the team. Both bring a wealth of knowledge and experience from Community Adult Mental Health Teams, and we are thrilled to have them join our team. We look forward to the skills, insight, and energy they will bring to our service.
👋🏻Fond Farewell and Appreciation
We would also like to take this opportunity to share our appreciation and fondness for Paul Reid, who has recently medically retired. Paul has been a valued member of our team since January 2021 and is a highly experienced and skilled professional.
Paul, the well-known joker of the team, always happy to wind his colleagues up, spark a lively debate, chat about the latest evidence base interventions or recommend a good wellness podcast. Paul will be greatly missed, both professionally and personally.
💭 Working Well Day
In December we came together for a Working Well event with our FCP colleagues. Geraldine Hamilton, HSC Leadership Centre, encouraged collaborative and innovative thinking and Shane Martin, author and psychologist from MoodWatchers explored the principles of Positive Psychology and how they can support both our personal wellbeing and professional practice.
The workshop was interactive and thought-provoking, with very positive feedback from staff. It was great to see strong collaboration across teams, new relationships being built, and open discussions around more effective and efficient ways of working. Workshops like this help support happier, healthier staff, which ultimately leads to better patient care and improved outcomes.
We look forward to building on this success and planning a joint MDT follow-up to put ideas into action.
⚠️Exciting New Project!
We are pleased to share news of a new project supporting the mental health and wellbeing of people arriving in Northern Ireland seeking sanctuary. SMHP Julie Lennox will be delivering this project within the Causeway locality.
We wish her well with this and look forward to hearing updates as the project progresses.
💫Compliments Corner💫
We are always delighted to share positive feedback received from those we support. Recently, the following compliment was given to our SMHP Aine McFadden:
“Aine, the best Mental Health Practitioner.”
“Thank you from the bottom of my heart for listening to me and for your ongoing support. Your guidance, compassion, are helping me to come out of a scary dark place. You are an angel.”
Thank you, Aine, for embodying the values of compassion, care, and dedication that make such a difference in people’s lives. 💞
Federation Education / PBL
📖 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.
🚨Medical Administration Academy Update
We have recently commenced a third Medical Administration Academy (our first with the Labour Market Partnership Antrim & Newtownabbey). We have 13 participants on the current academy. Our Medical Administration Academies have gone really well over the past year and we would love to work with each of the relevant council areas to see if we can secure contracts to run in all of our 4 Northern Federations. We have had meetings with the respective council areas and unfortunately it is not currently possible to secure funding to proceed with one with the Causeway Federation at present. Please be reassured that we will continue to explore avenues to secure funding to possibly run one within Causeway Federation.
You will recently have received communication saying that there appears to be a similar initiative within the Causeway area. Causeway Coast & Glens have appointed a training provider following a tender that had been circulated before Christmas. NFSU has no affiliation with this programme, having declined to tender due to an insufficient budget to deliver the Medical Admin Academy to the standard we felt necessary, concerns regarding the proposed target client group, and delivery timelines. From the information available, the training appears to be a significantly more diluted and condensed programme in terms of content.
Please note that we have not shared any practice contact details. Any communication regarding this programme (including placements) will not be from NFSU. With our Medical Admin Academies, we only engage member practices once a rapport has been established with participants and we are reasonably confident they can make a valuable contribution within practices.
We remain eager to provide our original Medical Admin Academy within our Causeway Federation and continue to explore funding opportunities to do so. Feel free to contact us if you have any queries / would like further information.
👥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. T
he 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 Causeway 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 - January 2026
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