A 300,000 name petition demanding more funding for GP budgets will be handed over to the Assembly today. The move comes as a doctor warned that pressures across GP practices are beginning to take their toll on patients.
Shorter waiting times for appointments, more flexible opening hours and longer face-to-face consultations would result from a cash injection, according to campaigners.
GP practices in Northern Ireland currently receive just over eight per cent of the health budget and doctors are calling for this to be extended to 11 per cent by 2017.
They say i n a d e q u a t e resources and spiralling waiting lists are creating a crisis situation for general practice and their patients.
More than 16,000 signatures from Northern Ireland have been added to the NHS-wide joint petition between the Royal College of GPs and the National Association for Patient Participation.
Dr John O'Kelly, left, who chairs the college, said enhancing their services would reduce pressures on hospitals and benefit the entire NHS.
The medic said £21 million had been shaved off their budgets in the past four years at a time when the number of patients has risen.
"The situation looks set to get worse unless the government urgently acts. Northern Ireland already has the lowest GP coverage in the NHS. Added to this, we also have the oldest GP workforce as almost a quarter are over 55-years-old," he said.
"Every patient should be able to get an appointment with their GP or practice nurse when they want and need one. GPs are working harder than ever to try and meet the demand and provide the type of care which patients deserve.
"The pressure which GPs are under is beginning to take a toll on patients."
New research commissioned by the college showed that more than three in five people believed the high numbers of patient consultations which GPs carried out each day - between 40 to 60 - is a threat to care standards.
More than a third said they were concerned that the amount of time they had to wait for an appointment to see their GP could adversely impact on their health.
"All these statistics show that waiting times need to be addressed and that the situation is set to get even worse. Even more worrying is that some patients may decide to not seek treatment because of worries around appointment waiting lists, meaning that GPs could be missing opportunities of detecting illnesses at an early stage or preventing them happening in the first place," added Dr O'Kelly.