An Accredited Official Statistics Publication.
Published by: BSO Family Practitioner Services Information Unit
Contact:
Aileen Gordon
Telephone:
028 9536 3692
Email:
Aileen.Gordon@hscni.net
Theme:
Key Facts Statistics
Coverage:
Northern Ireland
Frequency:
Annual
This publication provides key facts in relation to general medical, dental, ophthalmic and pharmaceutical services and statistics in Northern Ireland between April 2025 and March 2026. It is a supplementary document summarising each of the standalone reports previously published in June 2026. These full reports are available to download from the BSO FPS website and provide detail on the definitions and sources of the information presented in this summary compendium. Information on each of the service areas can be found by clicking on the relevant tab.
This publication is based on payment claims submitted by primary care dentists and opticians, community pharmacists, dispensing doctors and appliance suppliers to Family Practitioner Services (FPS). The information does not include private work or secondary care activity.
General medical information is based on patient records on the National Health Application and Infrastructure Services (NHAIS) system and GP information from the Common Practitioner Model (CPM), but does not contain data on the treatment of patients which is not available to BSO.
This publication has been produced by independent statisticians within the FPS Information Unit. They are on secondment from the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA). Further information about the work of FPS and the production of these statistics can be found on the User Notes page.
We welcome any feedback on any aspect of these statistics which can be provided by email to: BSO_PrimaryCare.Statistics@hscni.net.
Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR). You are welcome to contact us directly with any comments about how we meet these standards. Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing regulation@statistics.gov.uk or via the OSR website.
Within the dashboard comparisons are made between current data and previous years. Where there has been an increase in a value this will be coloured green and where there has been a decrease this will be coloured red. Please note that the colours simply represent the change in values and are no reflection on whether this is considered a positive or negative change (e.g. if spending has gone down this will be coloured red but this could be interpreted as positive change).
This is a supplementary document combining key facts from the previously released 2025/26 publications relating to the four main areas within Family Practitioner Services.
They represent a range of general medical, dental, ophthalmic and pharmaceutical services, and the statistics are based on registration activity and claims submitted from within primary care to the Business Services Organisation (BSO). They do not cover secondary and private care.
Data for each of the four service areas detailed in this publication are available in full using the following link: Family Practitioner Services.
Family Practitioner Services (FPS) is part of the Business Services Organisation’s (BSO) Operations Directorate. It provides a range of essential services to Health and Social Care organisations, primary care contractors and patients.
FPS calculates payments to health professionals in the dental, pharmacy, general medical and ophthalmic sectors throughout Northern Ireland. It also maintains the central register of patients registered with GP Practices in Northern Ireland, issuing medical cards and processing changes such as name, address and doctor.
It provides professional advice, support and information to customers and members of the public and maintains the pharmaceutical, dental, ophthalmic and the Northern Ireland Primary Medical Performers lists. FPS also provides the call and recall services for cervical and bowel cancer screening in Northern Ireland.
This report has been produced by independent statisticians within the FPS Information Unit. They are on secondment from the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA). This publication has been compiled in accordance with the Code of Practice for Statistics. For detailed tables relating to this report visit the BSO FPS website to select the relevant service area and annual statistics tables required.
GMS Payment figures presented in section 1 exclude all payments to practices that were managed by Health and Social Care Trusts at any time during the financial year, including payments relating to earlier periods. Totals will therefore not match the BSO Assurance Letter totals, which include all payments processed during the financial year.
This is an Accredited Official Statistics publication. Accredited official statistics are called National Statistics in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007. Visit OSR Accredited Official Statistics for further explanation of this terminology. These official statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) in May 2022. The reports referred to within this publication were also awarded National Statistics status. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and should be labelled ‘accredited official statistics’. All accredited official statistics should comply with all aspects of the Code of Practice for Statistics. The OSR considers whether the statistics meet the highest standards of Code compliance, including the value they add to public decisions and debate.
This compendium publication is issued annually. It is expected that the next edition shall be published early July 2027 following the next release of the individual annual reports in June 2027. In the interim, quarterly tables are published separately on the BSO FPS website, accessible via the relevant service area. The quarterly figures are provisional until the annual publication for that year issues, at which point they are finalised. A publication timetable for future statistical publications is also available.
The target audience for this publication has been defined as: The Department of Health, Strategic Planning and Performance Group, HSC Trusts in Northern Ireland, health professionals, academics, HSC Stakeholders, the media and the general public.
This publication contains official statistics on general medical, dental, ophthalmic and pharmaceutical activity for the most recent financial year (and earlier years where available on a comparable basis). It provides a broad overview of activity across the service areas, highlighting where more detailed breakdowns can be obtained.
The detailed information underpinning this summary can be used to support decision making, inform policy, provide advice to ministers, answer a wide range of Assembly Questions and Freedom of Information requests, for national and local press articles and, where appropriate, for international comparison.
The data has been primarily sourced from the Family Practitioner Payment System (FPPS) in respect of FPS activity and payment information. Resident population data has been sourced from official NISRA demographic statistics.
The FPPS is a business-critical payment system which is subject to periodic audit. The data quality is assessed as very good based on the low percentage of claims which have to be adjusted following payment.
As an administrative data system, there will inevitably be some manual entry errors and, even for automated processes, there may be errors within the claims submitted by primary care contractors.
The extensive validation that occurs prior to payments being made, coupled with the consistency and variance checks carried out during the compilation of this publication means that the data provides a good representation of FPS activity for the years covered by the report.
Further information in relation to the background data quality reports and the Quality Assurance of Administrative Data Reports for the four service areas can be found on the relevant service area page of the BSO FPS website.
This is a supplementary document combining summary information from the previously released 2025/26 annual publications relating to the four main areas within FPS: general medical, dental, ophthalmic and pharmaceutical services.
Detailed information on data sources, definitions and coverage can be found within the relevant annual reports using the following links:
Or by visiting the BSO FPS website.
Further information about Northern Ireland and its health services which may assist readers in interpreting this publication is available from Family Practitioner Services.
We welcome any feedback on any aspect of these statistics which can be provided by email to: BSO_PrimaryCare.Statistics@hscni.net
© 2026 Crown Copyright. This publication may be reproduced free of charge in any format or medium. Any material used must be acknowledged, and the title of the publication specified.
Open Government Licence. All content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0, except where otherwise stated.