Ballymena faces wait until 2029 for GP support teams as Allister calls for rethink

Inset: North Antrim MP Jim Allister

Ballymena GP practices face a wait until at least 2029 for the rollout of Multi-Disciplinary Teams designed to ease pressure on doctors and give patients greater access to physiotherapy, mental health and social work support.

North Antrim MP Jim Allister has called for the timetable to be reconsidered after being contacted by local GPs concerned that Ballymena remains without the additional primary care support.

Mr Allister subsequently raised the issue with the Health Minister and says he was informed that Ballymena is included in the second phase of the Department of Health’s MDT Implementation Plan, due to begin in 2029.

“Local GPs contacted me regarding the provision of primary care multi-disciplinary teams (MDTs) in the Ballymena area,” Mr Allister said.

“I wrote to the health minister to ask why GP practices in Ballymena are without such assistance. I am disappointed to receive his response that not only is this area lacking the scheme, it is planned for years away.

“He wrote that the MDT Implementation Plan is proceeding in two phases, with Ballymena included in the second phase due to begin in 2029.

“With primary care already under strain, this delay risks exacerbating that pressure with patients denied access to services that should be readily to hand.

“As demand for multi-disciplinary services increases, I urge decision makers to reconsider this timeline and prioritise the urgent needs of our communities.”

What Ballymena is waiting for

Multi-Disciplinary Teams bring physiotherapists, social workers and mental health professionals into general practice to work alongside existing practice teams.

The model is intended to allow patients to access a wider range of care closer to home, while providing additional capacity for GP practices and reducing the need for some referrals into hospital services.

The Department of Health’s implementation plan was published in July 2025 and set out a two-phase programme for extending MDT provision across Northern Ireland.

At the time, then Health Minister Mike Nesbitt said areas where MDTs had already been introduced delivered an additional 335,000 patient consultations during 2024/25.

“We can see that the MDT programme is making a significant difference. In the areas it has already been rolled out to, it delivered an additional 335,000 patient consultations in 2024-25.

“We can double that appointments total over the next four years and then push it up to the million mark within eight years. That ambitious projection is included in the implementation plan.”

Ballymena placed in later phase

Under the plan published last year, Phase 1 runs from 2025/26 to 2028/29 and is intended to complete MDT provision in the seven GP Federation areas where implementation had already begun, while expanding the model into five additional areas.

Those additional areas are North Belfast, South West covering Fermanagh and West Tyrone, East Antrim, Craigavon, and Armagh and Dungannon.

Ballymena is among the five remaining GP Federation areas earmarked for Phase 2, which is scheduled to run for a further four years from 2029/30.

That distinction means neighbouring East Antrim is included in the earlier expansion while Ballymena must wait for the second phase.

When announcing the implementation plan in July 2025, Mr Nesbitt acknowledged that progress had previously been constrained by funding and workforce availability.

“Progress on implementing the MDT model has been constrained by funding and staff availability. However, this year I have been able to secure £61m of Executive transformation funding to push ahead with expansion.”

That £61m was Executive transformation funding allocated to support the first phase of the programme through to the end of 2028/29 — rather than a new funding announcement in 2026.

The Department’s plan envisages MDT implementation commencing across every GP Federation area in Northern Ireland within five years of the plan, with full rollout taking approximately eight years.

For Ballymena, however, the timetable means practices and patients are set to remain outside the MDT programme until its second phase begins from 2029/30 — the delay Mr Allister is now asking decision-makers to reconsider.