The NICC (Northern Ireland consultants committee) is a standing committee of the BMA and represents all consultants working in Northern Ireland.
Our priorities
Pay
Consultants in Northern Ireland must be recognised properly for the work they do. More than any other group of healthcare workers, NHS consultants have been hit hardest by years of below inflationary pay “rises” from successive governments. As increasing numbers of professionals choose early retirement or reduced hours while waiting lists remain extensive, it is essential to restore pay in order to retain current consultants and attract future members of the consultant workforce.
Read more about our campaign to fix pay for consultants in Northern Ireland.
Read our FAQs about consultant pay in Northern Ireland
Recruitment and retention
BMA Northern Ireland had identified that health and social care in Northern Ireland has been experiencing significant pressures and insufficient resources. Coordinated measures are required to retain consultants within Northern Ireland’s Health and Social Care system as it continues to address and recover from the pandemic, exorbitant and rising waiting lists, early retirements and reduced hours due to deplorable pensions taxation, and the offer of more lucrative contracts elsewhere in the world. We have compiled evidence demonstrating a deepening crisis within the consultant workforce.
The ongoing high rates of vacancies in our health service are a huge concern for doctors.
We made a number of freedom of information requests to HSC (Health and social care) organisations in Northern Ireland to examine this issue in more depth.
Our report outlines the results of these requests and explores the factors that could be leading to an under-reporting of consultant vacancies.
Pensions
Taxation
BMA Northern Ireland welcomed the pension taxation changes introduced in 2023, which saw the Lifetime Allowance (LTA) scrapped and the Annual Allowance (AA) increased to £60,000. These are positive changes that can help retention of doctors in Northern Ireland in the short term. We also welcome the implementation of the pensions flexibilities negotiated as part of the NI consultants pay negotiations in 2024 including partial retirement and retire and return.
However, despite these reforms, pension-related issues continue to lead doctors to cut their HSC commitment or retire. This has a negative impact on retaining consultants in Northern Ireland, which is a key issue for NICC.
Moreover, if the AA limit is not kept regularly under review and left to erode in real-terms, then we will be back in a situation in few years’ time when consultants in Northern Ireland are looking to further reduce their HSC commitments or leave the health service altogether.
McCloud
The remedy to address the unfair discrimination in the pension scheme, known as the McCloud remedy, is also an important issue that impacts consultants in Northern Ireland.
With all members moved into the 2015 scheme from April 2022 for future accrual, and remedial service for members in scope rolled back to their relevant section of the legacy scheme, the Department of Health is now working through the implications of the rollback.
This is a complex exercise and was subject to a 2023 Department of Health consultation, to which BMA Northern Ireland issued a detailed response on behalf of members. It’s vital that impacted members are put back into the position they would have been in, if the discrimination hadn’t happened – this includes compensation for any overpaid pension tax, as well as the opportunity to revise any decisions members made that were contingent on the discrimination they faced.
We will keep all members up to date with developments as the remedy is implemented.
Working for consultants in Northern Ireland
NICC represents the views and priorities of consultants in Northern Ireland on a range of other BMA committees and external bodies with the aim of recruiting and retaining consultants and making Northern Ireland an attractive place to work for consultants.
Some of the external groups and bodies we liaise with on behalf of consultants in Northern Ireland include the General Medical Council, the Department of Health NI, BMA/DoH NI HR Engagement Forum and the Central Medical Advisory Committee. In collaboration with the DoH, we are currently exploring a tripartite arrangement that will see BMA, DoH and eEmployers working together to resolve employment issues affecting secondary care doctors.
Clinical excellence awards
Clinical excellence awards have been frozen in Northern Ireland since 2009, with no increase in their value, nor new awards or progression through the award scheme.
We responded to the Department of Health's consultation in February 2024 on a new CEA scheme. We continue to await the publication of the consultation report. Our view remains that the proposed scheme will not reward excellence or be sufficiently enticing to encourage consultants to seek employment in Northern Ireland or stem the flow of members seeking to retire early or work elsewhere.
Read our briefing paper.
Our people
Chair: Dr David Farren
Deputy chair: Dr Stephen Moore
Executive subcommittee
The NICC has an executive subcommittee, which co-ordinates the NICC strategic approach to policy issues, acts as a core negotiating body for the consultant body in Northern Ireland and acts as a further link between the NICC and the regional LNC forum.
It also considers and, where appropriate, acts upon urgent matters between meetings of the NICC.
Voting members
Belfast Trust:
Dr Peter Cosgrove
Dr Sam Lamont
Dr John Woods (Retired)
Dr Dearbhail Lewis
Dr Colin Goldsmith
Mr Abid Rashid
Dr Matthew Dore
Dr Robbie Thorpe
Dr Timothy Mawhinney
Dr Michael Doris
Dr Pauleen McSherry
Dr George Gardiner
Dr Graham Smyth
Northern Trust:
Dr David Farren
Dr John Mc Cabe
Dr Tracey Anne O’Neill
Dr Barry Patterson
South Eastern Trust:
Dr Grainne Doran (N)
Dr Nathan Oliver
Dr Stephen Moore
Dr Michael McParland
Southern Trust:
Dr Anne Carson (Retired)
Dr Sara Hedderwick
Dr Jamie Campbell
Dr Allister Foy
Western Trust
Dr Gerry Mackin (Retired)
Dr Aidan Campbell
Dr Nicholas Lipscomb
Dr Adesh Ramsewak
Non voting members
Dr Ralph Roberts (Co-Optee)
Dr Darren Johnston (BDA)
Dr Martin Tohill (Via NI Council)
Dr Shanu Datta (UKCC Co-Chair)
Dr Helen Neary (UK CC Co-Chair)
We currently have the following 7 vacancies:
Belfast Trust – 2 vacancies
Northern Trust – 1 vacancy
Southern Trust – 1 vacancy
SE Trust – 1 vacancy
Western Trust – 1 vacancy
PHA – 1 vacancy
Take part in one of our free courses designed to give you the right skills to:
- break down equality and inclusion bias (CPD-accredited)
- value difference and inclusivity
- live our BMA behaviour principles.
Our meetings
We meet four times a year to discuss the latest issues affecting consultant doctors in Northern Ireland.
These meetings are open to members of the Northern Ireland consultants committee only. Non-voting committee members can participate as part of the BMA committee visitors scheme.
Meeting dates
- Thursday, 27 November 2025 – Hybrid (The Mount Business Centre)
- Thursday, 12 March 2026 - Virtual
- Thursday, 14 May 2026 - Hybrid (The Mount Business Centre)
All meetings start at 2pm.
How to join
There are many advantages to becoming involved in our committees. You can actively influence BMA policy-making and negotiations, represent your colleagues' voices and develop your leadership skills.
Each committee has a few routes to becoming an elected member. In the case of NICC, this is:
- Seats/term – every three years, elections for 36 seats on NICC for a three-session term.
- Timeline - elections are usually held in July or August.
- Eligibility - all consultants who are BMA members, and working in an NI health and social care trust are eligible to stand and vote in this election.
The election section below is kept up to date with details about any running elections, so make sure you keep checking it throughout the year.
Elections
The Northern Ireland Consultants Committee will be reconstituted in April/May 2026 for the 2026-2029 period. Members will be elected from across the HSC Trusts to serve a three3 year term.
Look out for election news and nomination details to represent your Trust on the committee. Find further details on the elections on the BMA's online elections system. You will need to have already registered with the BMA website to access this.
Get in touch
If you are interested in finding out more about the work of the NICC, please email us.
The BMA is working to meet the challenges that women face in the medical profession.
Stand for a BMA committee and be part of this change.