GPs in Northern Ireland have backed calls for Northern Ireland's GPC (NIGPC) to agree only to implement NICE guidance accompanied by adequate resources.

Eastern LMC member Dr Martin Cunningham said that although NICE sometimes vetoed expensive treatments, it often issued guidance with 'scant regard' to the cost of implementing it.

'This is a timely issue. We've heard that 65 per cent of GPs rarely have access to psychological therapies within six months.

'It's an example of where the resources do not meet the guidelines,' he told the conference. 'Ultimately the result will be more articles in the press saying we have failed again.'

A motion was passed calling for the NIGPC not to accept the implementation of 'any guidance or scenario' unless adequate resources were secured and 'a shared care plan is in place'.

NIGPC chairman Dr Brian Dunn backed the call, telling the conference that health departments across the UK, and Northern Ireland's health board in particular, must also realise the resource implications of any guidance it accepts.