Departments
Family Practitioner Services
The Southern Board accounts for payments made to the contractors who provide Family Practitioner Services for its residents.
There are four Family Practitioner Services: GPs, Dentists, Pharmacists and Opticians.
The Central Services Agency, based at Adelaide Street in Belfast, handles the bulk of payments to contractors on behalf of the Southern Board. The Southern Board also makes payments directly to GPs to reimburse them for a proportion of their practice staff and premises costs. This is done under the terms of the 1990 GP Contract.
Family Practitioner Services expenditure in the Southern Health and Social Services Board Annual Accounts for 2002-03 was:
| £'m | |
| GPs (General Medical Services)[1] | 23.6 |
| Dentists (General Dental Services) | 13.2 |
| Pharmacists (General Pharmaceutical Services) | 60.1 |
| Opticians (General Ophthalmic Services) | 2.5 |
| Total Family Practitioner Services Expenditure 01-02 | 99.4 |
| (For the Southern Health and Social Services Board) |
