To ask the Minister of Health (i) how many patients currently registered with GPs are not funded; and (ii) how much this figure has risen by during the current financial year.

All patients registered with GP Practices across Northern Ireland are funded via the Global Sum. Global sum payments are based on various elements of the Carr-Hill formula that has been used as the basis of core funding for GMS practices across the United Kingdom since the inception of the GMS contract in 2004. The distribution of the Global Sum payment to each GP Practice is based on the practices current registered patient list size, adjusted for a number of factors, including patient gender, patient age, rurality, market forces, unemployment levels, number of patients in a nursing home, number of new patient registrations etc. The global sum amount is reviewed quarterly to account for changes to the practice’s registered patient population.

The Global sum funding is currently £148m, based on the 21/22 value, an uplift for 2022/23 has not been agreed.