Family Practitioner Services Information & Registration Unit
The Family Practitioner Services (FPS) Information and Registration
Unit (IRU) was formerly part of the Central Services Agency but moved to the HSC Business Services Organisation
in April 2009.
Family Practitioner Services consists of Medical, Dental, Ophthalmic
and Pharmaceutical Services. FPS is responsible for payments to practitioners, registering patients
onto doctors' lists and issuing medical cards. The IRU is a mix of staff seconded from the Northern
Ireland Statistics and Research Agency working alongside skilled health services staff. The IRU
is responsible for the extraction, analysis and provision of information relating to the delivery of
FPS to the Health and Social Care Board and the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety.
More information about FPS and the IRU is available on the following
website -
Main Business Areas
- Collection and analysis of information from various FPS payment system
- Provision of information and advice to Health and Social Care Board and DHSSPS
- Management information for internal customers
- Production of annual statistical publications on FPS
- Provision of information and calculation of elements of the payment for doctors and dentists
- Provision assistance to the Counter Fraud Unit through development of systems to enable the Unit to combat and measure fraud
- Development and improvement of sources of information that are available for primary care
- Monitoring patient mortality at GP practice level
- Assistance in the data quality control of index of people registered with a GP